The Shinobi Path
by bloomsburry
Summary: A denounce S-class criminal is back from the dead with a hidden agenda up his sleeve.A renown medic-nin and the key to a dark plot was coerce into enslavement.These strong Shinobis set a path that would lead to a all encompassing love amidst war and chaos
1. Prologue

**Warning:** This story contains spoilers for the latest naruto manga which is currently on chapter you haven't read the naruto manga lately then I advice you to read the manga before you begin reading this story. This fic will be altered to suit my future preference (That is why I labeled it as AU) but don't worry; the characters will remain as is.

**Disclaimer:**If I do own the Naruto manga then Itachi would probably be my main character and I would even go to the lengths of naming the manga as Itachi.

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"**The Shinobi Path"**

**Itachi/Sakura**

**Rated M**

**Adventure/ Romance/ Drama**

**Prologue**

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The secret ninja war between the hidden Village of Stone and Leaf had ended. Both sides has neither won nor lost but had equally suffered the effects of their battle. Konoha had put up a good fight but the Stone Village was not to be deterred.

The aftermath of war was not a sight for an innocent child to see but the boy had no choice in the matter. Itachi was at the tender age of 4 when his eyes were opened to the horrors of war. His 4 year old mind which was once filled with innocent dreams of becoming a ninja could not even comprehend the sight that lay before him. He had surveyed the battlefield with tears streaming down his face as he stared at the fallen soldiers littered on the ground. The terrain was red with their blood and the trees burnt down to the ground. Some bodies lay open for his tearful eyes to see which he had immediately closed when he had glimpsed a dead man's internal organs peaking between torn skin and muscles. The area was decorated with bloody katanas, kunais and shurikens which were pierced through the bodies and trees or lay among the men who had given their life to protect their village.

Itachi had stood there looking out of place as his little heart was broken into tiny bits of pieces. The heaven themselves had opened up when Itachi could no longer shed a single tear. Every drop of rain that had touched his shivering form had slowly taken the last remaining traces of his innocence.

Itachi had never thought of dying. The thought had never even crossed his mind that if he had as so choose the shinobi path, he would end up like them. One day lying among the bloody carcasses while a child would survey his lifeless body like he was doing to the thousands of shinobis scattered before him.

He did not want that. He would not allow himself to be used as a weapon…….a weapon created for taking lives.

But his wish was not heard of. His father, Uchiha Fugaku was determined to mold his son to become the future leader of the Uchiha Clan. A role Uchiha Itachi was born to take.

Uchiha Fugaku had taken his 4 year old son from the evacuation site as soon as the war had ended. Itachi had been reluctant to come along, never realizing that as he took his first step outside the safety of the evacuation site. He was slowly stepping in to a nightmare that would soon take half of his sanity.

Uchiha Fugaku had planned to teach the shinobi way to Itachi from the beginning, never considering the fact the Itachi was still but a child whose innocent mind had just been destroyed.

With the raindrops mingling with his dried tears, Itachi had listened to his father's words. 'The shinobi path was his destiny', his father had told him, a destiny that he would soon regret taking.

The time Itachi had spent hiding within the dark evacuation site was pure agony. He knew that he was not alone in that horrid place but it could not be help that the waiting had made him think of possible scenarios all leading to his ultimate doom. His mother, Uchiha Mikoto was with him since she had given up her status as a kunoichi to become a full-time mother and the Uchiha Clans Matriarch. Even though his mother was there, her presence was not enough to even soothe the fear that was building up inside him. He had been hoping that it was all just a nightmare that he would soon wake up from. Oh, how wrong he was to think such foolish thoughts.

Itachi had been innocent then, but as he step back inside the gates of Konoha. His eyes no longer held the innocent glint in them and his lips incapable of giving any semblance of a smile. Time had ceased to exist since then as Itachi became a walking human shell; unable to act and think on his own, vulnerable to his father's will.

That faithful day when he had first left the Village with his father, was also the day that he was forced to become a man in a short period of time. The 4 year old Uchiha Itachi was no more.

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**2 Years Later**

After the secret ninja war between the hidden Village of stone and Leaf, another disaster had struck which destroyed the peace within Konoha. The kyuubi had attacked the village killing thousands of people and destroying the fire country's scenery along the way. They thought that it would be the end for Konoha but they did not lose hope. Thousands of leaf ninja were killed in action to protect their village and one of them was their handsome Yondaime who had sealed the kyuubi within his firstborn son, Uzumaki Naruto.

Soon after the attack, the Sandaime requested the Uchiha Clan to relocate. The Third Hokage had the Uchiha Compound built as a reward for the Clans' unfaltering loyalty to the village and for the services that they had provided when the Village was at stake. The Uchiha Clan had gladly accepted the gift and had immediately moved in to the Compound. Meanwhile, the Sandaime had his Anbu dispatch to investigate the Clan for any connection to the Kyuubi's attack. This action of course was done after the Konoha elders and the Anbu Root leader, Danzou persuaded the Sandaime.

Their suspicion was justified since their theory was based on the historical facts that had occurred during the First Hokage's rule. Uchiha Madara, one of the founding fathers of the hidden Village of Leaf, had been the one who controlled the kyuubi with his new level Mangekyou Sharingan and had fought the First Hokage himself. Even with Madara's most feared Mangekyou Sharingan, the Senju Clan leader or the First Hokage was not easily defeated.

In the end, Madara was defeated and his desire for vengeance over the death of his brother was never sated. Madara perished while the First Hokage had the 'Vale of the End' built in honor for the final and last battle that he had fought with the former leader of the Uchiha was why the Sandaime had taken the first step to preventing another traitor from the Uchiha Clan.

Months after the Uchiha Clan had settled within the Compound. The Clan became aware of the Konoha Anbu station outside the perimeters surrounding the Uchiha Compound, watching their every move. This of course had triggered Uchiha Fugaku's unwanted anger but he did not ask the Sandaime the reason of the Anbus presence near his Clan. Fugaku had already known.

The years that followed, the Uchiha Clan had live their life deceiving the eyes that had watched them. They had proceeded with their life like nothing was out of the ordinary but beneath the mask of their usually stoic facade; the Uchiha clan had already concocted a plan for an uprising. It had begun since the day Uchiha Itachi graduated from the Ninja Academy.

The Uchiha Clan would not be known as the masters of illusion if they could not even deceive their enemy without using their Sharingan. Konoha had truly underestimated the Uchiha Clan in which Uchiha Fugaku had taken advantage of.

The current leader of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Fugaku was not a fool to stand up against the Sandaime if there were only a few members of the Police Force at his disposal. For him to reinstate the Uchiha Clan to their previous lifestyle, Fugaku needed a plan. That was where Itachi came in. Fugaku needed his son to become a spy for their clan since he would make sure that Itachi would never betray his family. Itachi was the best choice since most members of his clan had chosen to enter the Police Force instead of joining the Konoha forces which were directly controlled by the Hokage.

Uchiha Fugaku had started training his son the years preceding the secret ninja war between the hidden Village of Stone and Leaf. At first Itachi had been a servant to his father's orders, following and bending to his father's will that he can no longer see himself as a human being but a tool. Not until the kyuubi attacked Konoha that his nightmares resurface which in turn made him realized to the path that he had blindly followed. He had been wasting his time tending to his emotional wounds that he had become unaware to his father's plans.

Itachi would not allow himself to become anyone's tool. He would never allow himself to end up like the Yondaime. A man who had wasted his life saving a village inhabited by fools. Itachi could not understand why the Yondaime had done such an act. He could never understand why people wanted to protect the village or why people would give up their lives to save others. Itachi had asked this to his father and had told him that it was a matter of obligation and duty. The Yondaime had sacrificed his life for the Village because that was what the people expected from him. The same goes for the ninjas who were only seen by the people as human weapons and shields to protect the Village.

After the Uchiha Clan had moved to the Compound, Itachi had refused to train with his father and had told him that the shinobi path was not for his parents had been surprise by his answer and when his mother had asked him what he wanted to become. Itachi's answer had left his father seething in anger. After that, Itachi was punished for his misconduct.

His father had locked Itachi in his room with the genjutsu to occupy his fragile mind. Itachi had been suffering his father's genjutsu for three days before his mother had intervened. Uchiha Mikoto had just given birth to his little brother Sasuke 4 months ago but she was still suffering the effects of childbirth. At first, Mikoto had reluctantly consented to her husband's action towards their son but when Mikoto could no longer take the pitiful cries coming from across the hall. Mikoto had gone straight to her husband and had confronted him. Although Mikoto's body was weak it still did not stop her from defending her baby. Mikoto had cornered her husband and had immediately demanded for Itachi's release. At the state she was in, Mikoto was still scary when her maternal instinct kicks in, looking more like an angry mama bear than a sick person.

Itachi had not eaten since the day he was locked in his room and thus he had fallen deeper into his nightmares. Slowly, very slowly cracks began appearing around Itachi's fragile mind... until finally it broke. Aside from starving him to death, his father had made sure he could not escape from his room. His father had placed chakra barriers around his room that could only be deactivated by the caster and had taken his ninja weapons along with him, leaving Itachi defenseless as he meets his maker in the form of his father's genjutsu.

His brain was close to shutting down as the genjutsu had sunk deeply into his mind, extracting information that would make him weak and make him relive the nightmares that he had buried from the farthest corner of his mind.

Uchiha Fugaku had given in to his wife's wishes in the end. In Mikoto's current state, Fugaku had feared for his life….I mean for his wife's well being. Now, standing in front of the shoji doors leading to his son's room, Fugaku performed the seals releasing the chakra barriers surrounding the room. Together with his wife, Fugaku entered Itachi's room but what greeted them made them froze, the color draining from their faces.

The sight before them would forever be engraved in their minds.

**To be continued………**

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**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!**

**I will love you to death if you do!**

**This is the first story that I have the guts submitting in fanfiction. So, I hope that you will be kind enough not to flame me……**

**Constructive criticisms and comments are welcome **

**I know that I have committed many grammatical errors in writing this story. So if you happen to notice any, just point it out to me and I'll fix it.**

**I'll be posting my first one shot titled 'Itch' by the end of this week. So watch out for it.**

**Meanwhile, 'The shinobi path' featuring Itachi's childhood life will be continued after I have written my first oneshot.**

**I hope you enjoyed my story.**


	2. The Nightmare

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Masashi Kishimoto but I do own Naruto………in my dreams.

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"**The Shinobi Path"**

**Itachi/Sakura**

**Adventure/Romance/Drama**

**Rated M  
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**Chapter 2**

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'**_The nightmare………I want it to end…….'_**

_All was asleep……….all was dreaming………._

_Sighing in their sleep while they snuggled in their bed sheets._

_Children hug their toys or pillows for security before drifting into their dreams._

_Lovers lay tangled in the bed after exchanging a few kisses and whispered good nights before succumbing to their sleep assured of the warmth beside them._

_The Anbu patrols did their rounds as they secure the perimeters that took up the Konoha grounds. Guards of Jounin level were stationed at the borders and entrances leading to their Village. All of which were wide awake, making sure that their people would not die in their sleep._

_The Moon bathed her gentle light over the sleeping Village of Konoha. _

_All was safe…….all was asleep……..but not all was dreaming….._

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**_Uchiha Compound_**

_Uchiha Itachi_

_A muffled sound broke through the darkness, coming from the small figure lying on the cold wooden floor. The room was flooded with darkness as the cold slowly creep towards the quivering form, curling its ice-cold hands on his foot before swallowing him whole.._

_The boy's eyes were wide open but it was constricted into pinpoints, as if trap in a dream or was it nightmare? His lips were already blue from the cold and his face as white as the paper. His irises were moving from side to side and his heart was beating fast. His knees drawn up to his chest and his arms were tightly wrapped around him, curled into a fetal position. His nails dug into the skin in his arms drawing blood but he did not feel the pain. His senses were numbed to it. _

_He was far from feeling the physical pain that he had inflicted upon himself as the pain had reached a new level, his mind. Mentally he was slowly dying. He was trapped inside his mind along with his worst nightmares._

_His mental barriers were slowly taken down, inch by inch his true form emerge amongst the rubble…..vulnerable to anything._

_Itachi could no longer distinguish what was real and what was not. They had finally broken the last visage of his sanity._

"_Someone help me!" Itachi cried out as he run from the men who had been chasing him. They threw a barrage of shurikens at him. Itachi avoided all of them but one stray shuriken hit his shoulder. Itachi gasped out in pain as the shuriken sank into his flesh._

_The enemy ninjas pounce at him but Itachi immediately recovered and began to run. Yes, he ran…ran and ran but each step he took never increase the distance that he had set for his enemies. This had been happening in what seems like years. He ran while they gave chase….and Itachi would always end up being caught by them and it would start all over again._

_Itachi knew that this was just an illusion but for him it had been real. He had witnessed the death of his mother and his father. He had watched his little brother got burnt to the ground together with their house. He had watched from the sidelines as they slaughtered his clan and the people living in his Village. He had watched them all die in front of him, breaking his phantom heart._

_He had watched Konoha's destruction and hadn't done anything to stop it. He had run and run until he could not run anymore. He was afraid….he was afraid for his life._

_Someone stabbed him in the back, the blade passing all the way through his body. Itachi stumbled to a halt as he wheezed; the blade had hit his lower lungs making it hard for him to breathe. He felt another blade sink into his shoulder, dislocating his scapula in the process. Itachi coughed a mouth full of blood as he sunk into his knees. _

_His blood began to spread and stain the ground as another katana buried itself into his stomach hitting his vital organs inside. Itachi's vision blurred and his eyes glittered with unshed tears. _

"_Someone help me…." Itachi choked out_

"_Someone….." Itachi croaked and coughed another mouthful of blood. _

"…_.please help me…"Itachi whispered softly as he slumped to the ground._

"_Okasan……" Itachi said as he lay there bathed in his own blood_

"_Otosan….." Itachi murmured as his eyes slowly losing its light._

"_Anyone?" He finally said before closing his eyes._

"…………_.."_

_The shivering form in the dark did not notice as one lone tear slipped from his left eye and fell to the floor._

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**2 years later………….**

**Hokage Tower**

**Debriefing Room**

"For your next mission…." The third Hokage said as he addressed the three genins and their sensei in front of him. "You are to go to the Ichibana Family where you will be assigned to your individual task. Their house is located……….."

"Sheesh……another boring mission…."Uchiha Shisui cut in.

"Shisui!" their sensei scolded while their female team mate, Inuzuka Hana giggled. Shisui continued on as he ignored the glares the Sandaime and their sensei was currently giving him.

"Why can't you just give us some C-rank or even B-rank missions? That would be exciting……" Shisui turned to look at his cousin beside him.

"Right, Itachi?" Shisui said nudging the stoic 7 year old. Itachi have to agree with Shisui.

After Itachi had met with his genin team, they were assigned to do menial works for the village like buying groceries for an old lady or cleaning the fish tank. They even got to do some weird stuff like posing for an aspiring painter who wanted to paint pedophilic and incest pictures. Shisui and Itachi had been asked to pose for the incest painting while they could hear the laughter coming from both their sensei and their female team mate. They had both stop laughing after that, when it was their turn to pose for the pedophile drawings.

The pictures were a masterpiece and had brought a horde of art critiques to Konoha just to take a glimpse of the paintings. Itachi had been embarrassed to see himself on the paintings together with his cousin. The painter had given specific instruction for them to pose certain scenes which had left both Itachi and Shisui in a very awkward situation. Even Itachi got to give his first kiss to his cousin that day which had lasted for 15 minutes when the painter had a difficult time trying to capture the scene.

Both had scrubbed their teeth a hundredth time that night and they had never mentioned the incident since then. Itachi have to thank Kami that the paintings had been bought before it could be shown in an art gallery. If that happens, Itachi would have to kill himself first. His sensei and Hana was also glad that the pictures hadn't gotten into the wrong hands. If Hana's mother had found out, his sensei might be supporting some missing limbs right now. The Hokage had to give them a decent amount of money for their trouble in which they had gladly accepted.

Then there was this mission where Itachi was asked to disguise himself as a lady-in-waiting for a certain princess. It was a C-rank mission in whichh Itachi had to look for the assassin within the Royal Court. The assassin had attempted to kill the princess many times but all of them had failed courtesy to a dark brown-haired lady-in-waiting.

Itachi was close to finding his target when his cover was almost blown. A man had walked inside the men's bathing house while he was still there. Itachi had not taken a bath for two days due to the fact that the princess's lady-in-waitings were expected to bath together, if he was a pervert like the toad sannin, Jiraiya. Itachi would have gladly joined them but he was no pervert.

So Itachi had refused to go with them and had deprived himself a good two days bath in the process. After two days without a bath, Itachi could no longer stand the stink that his body was emitting and had gone to the men's bath house to cleanse himself.

Lucky for Itachi that the man who had found him was not from the Royal Court but faith seems to have a wry sense of humor. After Itachi had found out that the man did not pose a threat to his mission, Itachi had also found out that the man was also a homosexual pedophile and had tried to jump Itachi in the bath house. Itachi had boiled the man with his fire jutsu and had left the men's bathing house in a hurry.

It took him 2 weeks before he discovered the assassin's identity and who you might guess it was? It was no other than the man he had boiled in the bath house. Itachi had gladly handed him to the princess's Royal Guards.

After that mission, Itachi had made sure that he was careful in accepting C-rank missions from the Hokage. He didn't want to end up being bath-raped or ordered around to pose for incest paintings again

* * *

**Present**

"Right, Itachi?" Shisui said, nudging his side. Itachi ignored him and step forward to get away from his cousin.

"Hokage-sama" Itachi said drawing the attention from the occupants inside the room.

"I apologize for my cousin's behavior "Itachi bowed slightly and continued "His actions are unacceptable but I understand that his behavior is fueled by the fact that we have been doing these menial tasks for the past weeks. These missions have made us loose some of the ninja skills that we have acquired in the years we spent in the academy."

"Oh right cuz!" Shisui cried out punching his fist in the air while both Hana and their sensei were stunned at Itachi's words.

"I believe Hokage-sama that our ninja skills should not be wasted on doing simple task such as cleaning houses and weeding the garden….."

"You go Itachi!" Shisui cheered. The other two members of team 4 look flabbergasted as they watch the proceedings. The Hokage on the other hand seems to be enjoying the show and was calmly sitting on his chair.

"So I would like to request that our team be assigned to a task that befits are ninja skills….."

"Go and get that old geezer!" Shisui shouted earning a sharp glare from the third Hokage who in turn glared at the Hokage . Itachi leaned forward and let his bangs fall to hide the smirk that was slowly creeping on his lips.

"…..And since my cousin, Shisui wanted to have a more 'exciting' mission. I would like him to be assigned to clean the school bathrooms and do your laundry Hokage-sama"

"That's right I would be assigned to clea--WHAT?" Shisui shouted as he stared at Itachi.

"Your request is granted" the third Hokage said before Shisui could protest. "I hereby assigned you, Uchiha Shisui to clean the Ninja Academy bathrooms and do my laundry for a month. This is not a D-class mission but a punishment for disrespecting your Hokage. Your punishment will begin today and I hope that you will learn something from this, Shisui"

Itachi inwardly smirked while Hana and their sensei tried not to laugh at Shisui.

"But what about, Itachi? Shouldn't he be punished too?" Shisui asked looking outrage at the injustice of it.

"For what?" the third Hokage asked his eyes glittering in amusement.

"For what he said earlier!" Shisui seems to be the only one in the room who wanted Itachi punished.

"Hhhmmmm……"The third Hokage thought for a moment before looking at the other two members of team 4 "What do you think?" the Hokage asked them.

"No" they said in unison.

"There's your answer" The Third Hokage said to Shisui whose face had contorted with anger.

Shisui turn to his cousin who had been silent after he had given his little speech earlier.

Shisui flashed his sharingan at him and said "Meet me at the Uchiha training grounds tomorrow at dawn"

Itachi merely nodded his answer, after all this was not the first time that they had fought. Itachi had always loved challenging his cousin, directly or indirectly like he had done earlier. That was how their friendship works….in a twisted kind of way.

They were both after all born from the same clan.

Shisui stopped glaring at his cousin and force a grin across his face as he turn towards the Hokage.

"So where do I start?" Shisui asked in a fake happy voice

"Start with my underwear" the Third Hokage said, straight to the point. A horrified expression crossed his handsome face but he immediately hid it when he felt Itachi's stare. His cousin must be laughing at him right now.

"Hn" Shisui said in agreement but in his mind he was silently cringing.

"As for the rest of Team 4, you will still continue with your D-rank mission that I have assigned to you before I was interrupted" The third Hokage said and looking pointedly at Shisui who was staring anywhere but him.

"The Ichibana's House is located near the Nakano River in the east quadrant of the Konoha civilian residence" The Sandaime continued as he handed the information of the family that they were assigned to.

"I assume that you are looking forward to this mission. So if there is no further question, then you may leave" The Sandaime dismissed them.

Itachi was the last one to leave and he was about to close the door behind him when the Hokage called.

"Itachi……"

Itachi turned to looked at the Hokage, his hands still on the doorknob. He could hear the sound of his team mates walking further from the debriefing room.

"I hope that you haven't forgotten the words that I have taught you" The Sandaime said as he leaned over the table, intertwining his hands in front of him.

Itachi did not reply immediately but merely look at the Hokage with a blank look on his face. His eyes never showed any sign of emotion as The Hokage watched him closely.

"You do remember, right?" The Sandaime asked when Itachi had taken a long time to answer his first question.

Itachi turned his back to him and said over his shoulder "I remember them, Hokage-sama."

"That's why I'm still alive right now" Itachi said before closing the door behind him.

The Third Hokage watched him go; leaving him to deal with an image of a 5 year-old boy broken beyond repair. The Hokage was glad that the boy had survived.

* * *

**Ichibana's House**

"I never knew that you were such a good actor, Itachi" Hana said to him. Itachi stopped what he was doing and looked up at his female team mate who was grinning at him, showing off her canine tooth.

"What you said earlier almost made me believe that you really don't like doing this stuff" Hana pointed to the weeds on Itachi's grasp. There was a pregnant pause as Itachi waited for Hana to continue but when she didn't. Itachi asked.

"What are you doing here, Hana"

Hana had the sense not to fidget as Itachi directed his dark gaze at her.

Hana shrugged "I was just checking out if you didn't die of heatstroke."

"Now that you have, why don't you leave?" Itachi said bluntly unmindful that he might hurt someone else's feelings preferably Hana's. Since Hana was Hana, she ignored his last comment and continued with her interrogation.

"He finally told you, didn't he?" Hana asked and watched as Itachi froze at her question. Then immediately relaxes but Hana could still see the tension on his shoulders.

"I don't know what your talking about" Itachi said as he began to pulling weeds from the ground.

"Don't deny it, Itachi" Hana said eyes flashing "I overheard your conversation--"

"You shouldn't be listening to someone else's conversation if I were you, Hana" Itachi said dryly "Because you might end up losing your tongue "

"Is that a threat I hear from you, Uchiha Itachi?" Hana spat at him "Are you going to cut off my tongue now?"

"Maybe" Itachi replied "It depends on how much you heard from our conversation"

"Well, I heard all of it" Hana said crossing her arms in front of her "So before you could cut my tongue, I would gladly lick that dirt off of your face. You look like you were wrestling a giant fly-trap rather than pulling out weeds."

"Hn" Itachi said as he wiped the dirt off with his shirt since his hands were dirty to begin with.

"So where were we again?" Hana began as she places her clench hands under her chin in a contemplative manner. "Oh! That's right. We were talking about you and Shisui"

"You better stop right there Hana before you say something that you might regret." Itachi said his eyes glinting. "I won't hesitate to hurt you like I did before"

"No silly! I was not going to ask you about your relationship with you cousin. If your screwing him behind my back I wouldn't mind at all" Itachi glared at her but she continued anyway ignoring the deadly intent coming from Itachi.

"I was just curious if letting Shisui be punished by the Hokage was your way of enacting your revenge?" Hana finally asked the question that Itachi had been trying to avoid.

"And why would I do that?" Itachi asked calmly while his shoulder tense.

"You did it because you wanted Shisui to suffer for what he did to you" Hana explained "Shisui finally told you the truth in your conversation yesterday. You were angry from the start but in the end you forgave him."

Itachi listened to her and had totally stopped his progress with the weeds. Hana stared at the cloudless sky as she continued.

"Even though you had forgiven him, you couldn't stop yourself from giving him a hard time, didn't you? So you had to ask the Hokage to punish him for his disrespect and at the same time you indirectly challenge him into a fight. You really are a genius, Uchiha Itachi."

Hana look at Itachi who stared blankly ahead of him and did not react to her last comment.

"Even though you and Shisui became friends, it still didn't stop you from hating each other's guts. Shisui had been envious of you when you entered the school. He had seen you as a threat when you had passed the year levels in each single month. Until you finally reach our year level"

Itachi remained silent as he listened to the girl 5 times his senior in front of him. Hana and Shisui were of the same age and Itachi could relate to them more than the children his age. They were the first people who had broken into his world. The world which were built from the blood and tears that he had shed and the phantom pain where his heart was supposed to be.

"Shisui had been the most popular kid in school when you came along. So when his popularity was dwindling and yours flourishing, he did the only thing that could damage your reputation. He told us the truth…..of what happen to you two years ago"

"Hana" Itachi said quietly, his hands clenching and unclenching on his pants. "I think you should leave"

Hana paused as she watched the silent boy kneeling on the ground. Hana's eyes softening as she could see the pain Itachi was going through as he remembered his dark past.

A past that should be left behind….unperturbed and forever untouched.

"Hai" Hana finally said. She cast one final glance towards the kneeling form before she threaded her way on the grassy landscape towards the Ichibana's house.

"Hana" Itachi called silently. His head bowed, his bangs covering the rest of his face. His hands were tightly fisted on the cloth of his pants.

"What Shisui told you were nothing but lies" Itachi spoke, his knuckles whitened as he dug his dirty finger in to his soiled pants.

"They were lies?" Hana asked curiously as she turned her body around to get a better look at Itachi's form. Hana could smell the pain, the anger and mostly fear emitting from Itachi. Fear from what, Hana didn't want to know. She could guess that it was what kept Itachi awake all night long as there were dark shadows on his eyes every time she sees him.

Itachi looked at Hana with haunted eyes, eyes that had seen so many deaths and had experience so much pain. Eyes that held so many secrets……secrets that should be left alone.

"The truth that you spoke of was nothing but an illusion." Itachi said his eyes dulling each time he spoke and stared in front of him with unseeing eyes. "An illusion that had been weaved to deceive the prying eyes"

"What happen to me two years ago had been more than just a nightmare. It was--" Itachi halted before he could finish the sentence.

"It was what Itachi?" Hana asked softly as she watched Itachi closed his eyes before opening them again. His eyes were lifeless and held no light; Hana regretted her decision in confronting him. It seems that the Itachi that she had known was just a shadow of boy who had hid himself in the darkness for too long.

Shisui was right they did not know anything about there 7 year old team mate, Uchiha Itachi.

He was still an enigma to them.

"It was hell" Itachi finally said.

'_It was hell_' Hana repeated in her mind. '_It was hell_'

Itachi was silent, his eyes totally blank and unmoving. Itachi was in a place where Hana could not reach him…..in a place where no one could touch his bleeding heart that Hana had opened. Hana waited for him to come back.

"HANA!" their sensei called from inside the Ichibana's House. "Where the hell are you?"

"I'm here Hotiru-sensei" Hana called as she stared at the unmoving Uchiha "I'm in the backyard with Itachi"

Makushi Hotiru emerge from the house and step in to the sunbathe backyard.

"You were supposed to be cleaning the kitchen" Hotiru said to Hana and look at Itachis's kneeling form. Hotiru raised his eyebrow at Hana in a silent question '_What did you do now?_' Hana shook her head at him and sighed.

"He's daydreaming about his girlfriend" Hana answered

"I never knew that Itachi has a girlfriend!" Hotiru said in surprise. Hana sighed again, her sensei could be stupid sometimes…..well not sometimes but all the time.

"Well" Hana said "Not really a girlfriend. Let's just say that he has this little crush on a girl who is younger than him that's why he had to kept her a secret"

"If it's a secret, how did you find out?" Hotiru asked her suspiciously.

"I was spying on him" Hana immediately lied "And I came here to confront him about being a pedophile"

"How old was this girl were talking about?" Hotiru questioned her student.

"Ummmm……"Hana thought for a minute but her sensei stopped her before she could answer.

"Never mind that" Hotiru wave his hand in dismissal "I came here to remind you of your duties. You were supposed to clean the kitchen right now" Hotiru scolded his black haired student who bared her canine fangs at him.

"No, I'm not!" Hana said her diamond shape irises flashing. Her invisible hackles rising….

"Yes you are!" Hotiru insisted.

"Don't lie to me Hotiru-sensei!" Hana said her eyes became feral.

"I'm not lying!" Hotiru said looking wounded at the accusation which was rightfully true.

"I heard Ichibana-san talking to you earlier and he had specifically assigned you to cleaning the kitchen" Hana said getting angry by the minute, if this fight continues Hana would surely bite her sensei's head off, literally.

"No he didn't!" Hotiru denied.

"Arrghhh……You're such a hopeless liar, you know that?" Hana cried out pulling her hair. Her sensei was such a lazy bum sometimes that he even have to lie through his teeth to get what he wanted. Hana would never clean the kitchen...

* * *

**2 minutes later …….**

"Stupid sensei……"Hana grumbled as she started to scrub the kitchen floor.

"I shouldn't have challenge him to a game of jankenpoi"

-------------------

**Uchiha Itachi**

Itachi's brow started to drip with sweat as the heat of the sun bore on to him. His shirt clung to him like a second skin as he stared at the endless blackness that was his mind.

" _Okasan!" Itachi called out as he stumbles over the darkness. Itachi halted before turning to his left and continue to call out._

"_Otosan!"_

_His voice echoed through the darkness that envelops him, bouncing through the invisible walls that prevented him from escaping._

"_Anyone?..."_

_Itachi shouted through the endless void, his arms out stretch in front of him as he searches for the exit. There was no hope in escaping that hell….._

_No hope for him there…_

_Then there came the soft sound of rustling………._

'**_Rustling_**_?' Itachi thought as he turned towards the sound but found none._

_Then he felt it…._

_Something had touched his ankle. Itachi looked below but there was nothing there. All was dark around him. Itachi waited and then…._

**(THUMP)**

Itachi's eyes shut open and his eyes encountered a patch of grass near his face. Itachi noticed that he was lying face down on the ground.

'_I must have fainted' _Itachi thought

Something settled on his back. Itachi immediately froze, at first he thought it was some kind of bird but as it begun to crawl towards his head. Itachi was sure that is was a mammal maybe a dog or cat but since it was bigger than an average cat. So he assumed that it was a dog.

As it neared his face, Itachi was expecting for the dog to lick him but no it did not. So instead of licking him, it decided to speak to him.

"Pway" the thing said.

Itachi then decided that he had lost his mind, that this was the result for staying under the sun for too long.

'_Note to self, do not stay under the sun for 8 hours_'

**(THUMP)**

Something bounced on Itachi's head and landed near his face. Itachi could see that it was a small yellow ball with pink butterflies on it.

'Pway' the thing squealed as it rolled to the side to get the ball. The thing was smiling as it stared at him with innocent emerald eyes. It sat up with the yellow ball on its arms. Itachi just lay there as he watched the thing began bouncing the ball in front of him, squealing with joy.

"Pway" the thing said yet again and pushed the ball towards his face. The ball bump into his face and Itachi could only stare at the yellow surface near his eyes. He could hear the thing squealing and clapping its hands. Pushing himself from the ground, Itachi sat up opposite to the bundle of energy in front of him.

Itachi took the ball and rolled it back. Itachi watched as the thing squealed before pushing the ball towards him, it halted at the center. Itachi stared at the ball in front of him and look up at the small figure squatting opposite him.

Itachi look into her eyes and what he saw almost made him want to glance away. Her eyes were full of innocence; innocence that has never been touched by the darkness. Her eyes were full of life that Itachi was afraid that if he glances at her, it will be snuff out by his eyes that had seen so many deaths.

Itachi did not want to taint her with his presence. He did not want her to end up like him.

Shrouded by darkness and tainted by the deaths that he had witness, afraid of the shadows that lurks in the corners of his mind.

Itachi's eyes dulled as he recalled the memories that he had when he was but an innocent child, unbeknownst to the horrors that surround him. He had been smiling then. He had played and had run laughing away from his mother who had been chasing him. He had played with his toys in his room while he used his imagination. Playing pretend and had drawn pictures of his family in crayons and pencils. He was content and he was at peace by then, unaware that the war was brewing around him, unaware that his innocent mind would be destroyed with the war.

"Pway" the thing interrupted his musings and Itachi turn to look at the kneeling form in front of him with the ball out stretch in her hands.

"Pway" she said

Itachi's eyes gazed in to her eyes but this time he allowed himself to delve in a little deeper in to her soul. Itachi could see clearly the purity in her eyes. It was as white as snow and as clear as the skies above them. It was what Itachi had wanted in all his life…….the innocence that he had lost.

Itachi reached out and was about to brush the pink locks on her chubby cheeks when he noticed that his hands was dirty. Itachi stared at his hands before letting it fall to his side…..he could not taint her. He wanted to…. but he did not dare to…. because she was what Itachi could never be. Pure and innocent….and Itachi would make sure that she remains that way.

**(THUMP)**

The ball hit his face and fell to the ground. The girl squealed and was clapping her hands ecstatically. Itachi glared……he decided that the girl doesn't need a protector after all. He was the one who needed protection as the girl pick up the ball and throw it at him, hitting his face with a loud smacked. The girl squealed with glee and was about to pick the ball up when Itachi swooped over and took it before she could.

Her emerald eyes widened and then she clapped her chubby hands together as he rolled the ball towards her.

"Pway" the girl squealed as she throws the ball over her head and it bounce towards the wooden fences that separated the houses in that civilian residence. Now that he thought about it, Itachi didn't know where the girl came from. Base on the information given to them by the Hokage there were no infants on the Ichibana Family. So he concluded that the girl must be from the neighbors.

'_But how did she get here_?" Itachi thought as he started to look around for a way where the girl had come from. Something caught his eye and he stood up, patting the dirt on his pants before making his way through the bushes. Itachi found what he had been looking for .There was a big whole on the wooden fences, big enough to fit a 2 year old girl. The girl's ball must have rolled into the hole and the girl had followed it.

Itachi turn towards the girl and watched as she stood up in her feet a little awkwardly and walked towards the ball. She stumbled over her clumsy feet and Itachi watched in slow motion as the girl fall. Itachi was there in a blink of an eye, he caught her before she got hurt.

Itachi use his dirty hands to steady her and let her stand on her own. Itachi could see a white circle at the back of her red dress and he guessed that it was a family symbol like the fan at the back of his blue shirt.

The girl raised her head to look at him with those big emerald eyes of hers and Itachi's eyes softened as she gave him one of her cute smiles.

A smile began to form on his thin lips when his eyes were drawn to the stain that he had made on the girl's dress. Itachi's brow furrowed at the stain and look at his hands on the girl's small shoulders.

Hands use to wield weapons of destruction…..hands that are meant to kill and not meant to touch the innocent. Itachi withdrew his hand from the girl, he had tainted the girl….he had touched her with his hands that had been use to take lives. He had finally tainted her……and his heart broke at the realization. He was supposed to protect her and not taint her. He was supposed to save her from becoming like him……she was supposed to live the life that Itachi could not have.

She was the only way of redeeming himself. To free himself from the tainted world by just looking into her innocent eyes and with that Itachi would be save. He would be save for a little while…..

"Pway" The girl said innocently as she gazed up at him. Itachi slowly knelt down in front of her and gazed into her eyes, searching until he found his answer. Itachi smiled for the first time…..he smiled because he realized that the girl was still the same. She had not lost her innocence as he might have feared. He did not taint her…..she was still as pure and innocent as she was before.

"Pway" The girl repeated and Itachi's smile widened and he nodded his answer. Itachi had not played for what seems like a lifetime and in that lifetime he played alone. But now that he was no longer an innocent child, he had finally found a playmate.

* * *

**24 Minutes later……….**

"Sakura!" Someone called from the other side of the fence. Itachi slowly opened his eyes and stared at the orange sky.

Dusk had finally come. It was the end of another day…… but this day was no other days.

This day was special to him.

"Sakura!" Itachi could hear the panic rising from the woman's voice. Itachi turn to look at the pink bundle in his arms, the girl was fast asleep with her arms wrapped around her ball. They had been playing for about 16 minutes when the girl got tired. So Itachi had to let her sleep in his arms and then, he too was lured in to a sleep where his nightmares could not touch him. Itachi dreamed for the first time that day…….

"Sakura" Itachi could hear footsteps on the other side as it neared the fence that separated them.

Itachi took the ball from the girl's grasp before wrapping his arms around her sleeping form. He silently stood up with her in his arms and hesitated.

Itachi didn't want to let her go. He didn't want her to go where he could not reach her….where he could not protect her….. but….

"Sakura" The girl's mother called out

Itachi took a last glance at the girl's face before he walked towards the wooden fence and leap over it.

He didn't have a choice…….

The girl needs her mother more than she needed him…..

"Are you alright, Itachi?" Hana asked him later as they walked away from the Ichibana's House. Itachi had stopped walking and was gazing at the house beside the Ichibana's.

Hana was shocked to see the sadness in his eyes when he had gazed at the house but it suddenly disappeared ,leaving Hana to wonder if she had just imagine it.

"Are you alright, Itachi?" Hana repeated her question earlier. They were now walking along the Nakano River. Their sensei had walked ahead of them while they had settled to just enjoy the view around them. Not them actually, she was the only one who was enjoying the view while Itachi settled to just staring at the ground with a far-away look on his face.

"Hn" Itachi replied. Hana take that as a yes but Hana was sure that Itachi was far from being alright.

"Itachi" Hana hesitated before she continued "I saw you glanced at the house beside the Ichibana's house earlier and I can't help but notice that--"

"Hana" he said softly as he stopped in his tracks to gaze at river where it had turn yellow and orange as the sun slowly faded from the horizon in front of them.

Itachi turned to look at her "This doesn't concern you" he said coldly before he turned and left her there. The sun's warm light had finally faded and the coldness of the night took over but Hana did not move from her position. She was to busy thinking about the look Itachi had given her when he had said those words.

It was a look that spoke of regret.

It was the same look that her mother usually has when she made a very bad decision about something.

Hana wondered what made Itachi look like that.

Hana had known Itachi for 6 months now but as far as she was concern. Itachi had never showed regret. Itachi had always been five steps ahead when it comes to decision making and had never made a single mistake but now…..

Hana was sure that what made Itachi look like that was the fact that the decision he made was very important and had been against his will but it had been the right choice.

Hana just wished that she knew what made Itachi regret his decision for the first time.

* * *

Itachi stared at the ground in front of him as he slowly walked towards the path that would lead him to the Uchiha Compound. His thoughts were still on the little girl that he had left behind. Itachi could not shake off her innocent emerald eyes. Itachi had wished that he taken her with him…. but to where?

To where the darkness could not taint her…..where she was safe from all the horrors of the world and to a place where he could protect her. But he could not do that…..he still has the responsibility to his Clan and his Village. They needed him as the girl needed her mother.

They were even and with that, Itachi settled to just leaving her behind………for a while.

Something caught his eye and Itachi halted.

He watched its progress as it slowly swayed in front of him, the gentle wind caressing it as it held his gaze.

He was entranced

He was captivated

He was seduced

Itachi had fallen for it

* * *

**2 Years before……..**

_Itachi gasped for breath as another Katana impaled him to the burning tree. He could feel the scorching fire eating at his flesh but Itachi could not scream. He was done screaming for help. Itachi had realized that there was no one there to help him. Everyone had abandoned him……everyone had left him._

"_Not tough now, ha?" One of the men said as they surrounded him, careful not to go near the flame._

"_You better curb your arrogance boy" another said "after all….. you're just a little boy" the men laughed at him _

"_What can you do to us?" said the man from earlier "Nothing" he said as he slide the kunai on Itachi's throat placing the tip of the kunai atop his carotid artery. Itachi could feel the cold metal on his skin and the thump of his raising heart. The man pressed the blade slightly and broke into his skin; his blood began to trickle from the open wound. _

"_Your Clan and your Village is gone now boy" they said "What would you do now?"_

_Itachi did not reply as he hang there on the burning tree, the katanas holding him in place._

"_Answer us!" the man commanded as he slapped Itachi across the face. Itachi's head whipped to the side by the force of it, he could feel his cheek started to bruise adding to the injuries that they had inflicted upon him._

_His face and body where already black and blue from the beatings that they had given him. His mandible and his nose were broken while his lower lip was bleeding from a cut. His lids were swollen and bruise that he could only squint at the enemy beneath half close eyes. He was supporting three or two missing tooth and a chipped on his front teeth. _

_Itachi could also guess that he had also broken two false ribs and three true ribs. Based on his breath expulsions, Itachi was also supporting a raptured lung and a traumatized diaphragm. Itachi had to thank that some of his vital organ was still functioning and had suffered less damage._

_They had also dislocated his pelvic bone and his scapula making it difficult for Itachi to support the weight of his upper and lower limbs. Though the katanas had help supporting his weight since it was pierce through both his wrist and thighs but the only thing is that, it had also severed some of his major arteries like his radial and femoral artery, making him loss a large amount of blood._

_Itachi had 5 minutes to live before he would die of blood loss. But Itachi had other plans in mind like how to get away from that nightmare before his real body would die of starvation._

"_If you don't want to talk then we'll do the talking from here on…."the man said and turn to the other men around him "Right, boys?" They all agreed and Itachi could only watch them through his bruised eyes as they began to draw out there weapons. The blades glinted menacingly at him._

"_We'll let our blades do the talking for us then" The men laugh around at him; they raised their blades and simultaneously plunged it through his flesh, breaking bones, muscles and tendons. The blade buried through his body totally impaling him to the burning tree. Itachi could only watch as they laughed at him, the flames slowly consuming him._

_His blood dripped from his open wounds, trickling on his skin and in to the ground. The flames burnt the clothes that he wore and then his skin and the flesh under it. But Itachi did not cry, he did not shout or scream for help. Itachi had remained silent through the ordeal, bearing the pain inside. The men were silent now as they watched him, his eyes were empty as it stared at them through the flames that had consumed him. _

_Itachi has 1 more minute left before the flames consume his whole body and before he dies of blood loss._

_In this world, Itachi was powerless but that did not stop him from trying to find a way out. Itachi realized that he can't escape from this nightmare by running away; he had to face it and try to find some escape._

_Itachi did not want to die…..he did not want to die in this nightmare._

_He did not want to leave the world with the nightmares as the last memories that he has to carry to the other side._

_His soul would not be at peace….._

_45 seconds left before he perished. The flames had already burnt his arms and legs and were now eating at his chest and head._

_Itachi knew what he has to do…….before it's to late._

"**_The nightmare…..I want it to end_**_"_

_Itachi closed his eyes and did the only thing that would save him from that nightmare._

"…………………_.."_

_Through the dark room, the figure on the floor had stopped moving. His hand fell to the floor that had been clutching his arms. His eyes were still open but it was empty. His body was now ice cold and his lips were frozen. The figure was unmoving……..except for the blood trickling from his closed mouth. _

_Blood began to escape from the corners of his mouth and it trickled down his small chin and landed on the cold floor. The small sound was loud in the silent room as the floor was becoming red._

_Footsteps could be heard outside the shoji door and then paused before sliding the door to the side. The room was flooded with the light from the open doorway and the two silhouetted figure that had stepped into the room suddenly froze at the sight that greeted them._

_A blood curling scream broke the silence within the Uchiha Compound._

_Uchiha Mikoto ran towards her son and kneeled beside his small form. Uchiha Fugaku could only watch as her wife raised their son to a sitting position. His eyes showed that he too was move by the sight of his son's current state._

"_Itachi!" Uchiha Mikoto shook her son's shoulder but Itachi was unresponsive. His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. Mikoto gently slapped her son's face but there was no response from the boy. Mikoto slapped her son harder and in the process opening Itachi's loosening Itachi's close jaw._

_Something fell from Itachi's mouth and slide into his chest, settling at the center of Itachi's slowly beating heart. Itachi began to gurgle and choke in his own blood but Mikoto was oblivious to it. Her gaze was transfixed on the thing on Itachi's chest._

_It was wet with Itachi's blood and it was small._

_It was half of her son's tongue._

_Mikoto screamed at the realization that her son had bit his tongue just to escape from the nightmare._

_Her screams echoing through the Uchiha Compound, waking half of the Uchiha Clan and baby Sasuke while Uchiha Fugaku had left to get a medic._

_Uchiha Mikoto sobbed as she rock her son from side to side murmuring Itachi's name. _

_Itachi just stared blankly at the ceiling oblivious to his mother's presence and his little brother's cries. His blood soaking his shirt as it poured out from his open mouth, revealing what's left of his tongue._

"**_The nightmare……I want it to end_**_"_

_

* * *

_

**Present**

Itachi shot out from the bed, his entire body was shaking and drenched with perspiration. His skin felt cold and his raven hair was on wild disarray. His eyes were constricted with fear and his heart was beating fast like he had gone on a marathon. His breathing was uneven as he tried to suck air through his mouth.

The bed sheets and his pillows were thrown to the ground from all the tossing that he had made. He had to thank himself that he hadn't fallen from the bed this time and broken a few bones when he was at it.

Itachi gazed at the moon outside his window and tried to calm himself down.

"_It was just a nightmare_" Itachi thought as he silently slide out from his bed and stood up He swayed slightly as he felt a sudden dizziness.

"_That wasn't real_" Itachi thought as he walked towards his drawer where he had hidden the thing that he had brought with him earlier.

"_It was all just a nightmare_" Itachi repeated to himself as he slowly opened his drawer and look inside.

"It was all just a nightmare" Itachi thought and repeating it all over again like a mantra as he silently gazed at the fragile thing inside his drawer.

Itachi was soothe by its presence and tried to regain his wits. Itachi placed the thing in his hands and walked towards his open window where he sat himself on the brought his knees to his chest and place the fragile thing between it where he could stare at it forever. Itach had calmed down but his thoughts was not.

The nightmare he had seen finally made him decide.

He had finally understand what his role was going to be in the future.

"You are the future leader of our clan Itachi, and that is why you have to become a ninja." His father had told him this when he had asked Itachi to enter the Ninja Academy.

"This is your destiny and you can't escape it." his father had said when Itachi had tried to refuse but in the end, Itachi had gone to the academy with bruises on his body from his father's training.

"The Ninja's are created, Itachi not for the purpose of war but for the purpose of peace," The third Hokage had said this to him when he had asked him. Why the Ninjas have to sacrifice themselves for their Village.

"Ninjas hold their weapons as the sign of their love and loyalty to the Village and not the sign of creating destruction and death to all. Without us, there will be no one to protect the Village and there will be no one to protect the innocent,"

"The hope of the people rest upon our shoulders,Itachi. They had put their lives into our hands... and as a Ninja we had to protect them with our own."

"The people within this Village, Itachi is like a flower... fragile and beautiful. They hold the Village together. Make it a better place to live in... a place where you can find peace and unity"

"If I take a petal from this flower...the flower would look incomplete and it would slowly die and wither. Like what would happen if the Village is brought to war. Lives would be lost and the Village would slowly crumble...but the beauty of it, Itachi is that we don't lost like the flower...even though it had already withered and died, the scent of flower does not fade away because it would be forever be remembered by us "

"Many Ninjas had died protecting their Village. They died a hero's had died with honor. Their lives was not wasted because they would be forever remembered by everyone. It may not be his name or face that the people would remember... but the people would surely remember what he had done for the Village. "

"Ninjas are not expendable as you have thought, Itachi. Ninjas are place in a highest regard by everyone because we are valuable people. We, Ninjas are heroes of this Village and the hope for everyone. Many children would look up to us and would follow the footsteps the become a Ninja...a shinobi... a kunocihi...and a hero. They would become the new generation of hero's and the new hope for everyone. This is the only way that keeps the people hoping...hoping for peace within this Village."

"That is why you have to be proud that you have chosen this path, Itachi. Be proud that you had chosen the Shinobi path"

"A path where heroes journey "

...

Itachi caressed the flower in his palm as he stared at the full moon above him. The cold breeze brushing his raven locks as he finally made his decision.

"**I have to protect the Clan...**"

"**...the Village...**" Itachi thought and turn to look at the fragile flower in his hands.

Emerald eyes flash across his mind and Itachi's lips curled into a sad smile.

"**I have to protect her...**"

"**_I have to protect all of them_**"

* * *

**_R&R Please……_**

Sorry to keep you waiting….It took me a little longer to write this chapter. I was busy doing my homework and studying for my quiz in Anatomy. I'm really sorry….and I think it would take me another week before I could post another chapter to this story because I have to finished my first oneshot 'Itch'.

_You must hate me for torturing Itachi like that….and I'm sorry but I have to do it. I know that biting-your-tongue – thing is too much but Itachi had no other way of escaping the genjutsu. His father had made sure that he could not escape from that room by placing a chakra barrier around his room and taking all his ninja weapons._

**_Why did he bite his tongue?_**

_You can only escape from the genjutsu by inflicting pain on yourself when you can't use your chakra for a genjutsu release but this will only apply to a simple genjutsu.(Like kurenai did when he was fighting Itachi in the naruto anime and Shikamaru when he was fighting one of the Sound Four during Saskue's retrieval mission)._

**Why cut his tongue instead of just biting his lips and such?**

_Itachi was weakening because he hadn't eaten since the day he was locked in his room. So as he was weakening the genjutsu got stronger, it was at the last moment that Itachi remembered that he could escape the genjutsu through 'Pain'. (His father had taught him this during his training.)._

_In the genjutsu, Itachi had been impaled to the tree and can't move his body. The genjutsu had been strong and so he had to counter it by inflicting 'Intense pain' to himself. Since he can't move his limbs ans scratching his eyes out was out of the question. So. Itachi did the only thing to counter the genjtusu and bit his tongue. _

_Yes,he could have bit his lips or swallow his tonsils (If that is possible) or whatever but for me biting your lips is not that intense. So I have to go to the idea of Itachi biting his tongue because it is more dramatic._

_Well, if I did choose the idea of biting his lips thing. I can't imagined Itachi without his upper or lower lip. I would rather much prefer to have a missing the tongue than a lower lip. After all, lips are superficial while the tongue is...unsuperficial._

**_Why he didn't do it from the beginning?_**

_Well let's just say that he was busy trying to run away from his nightmares that he had totally forgotten that he was under a genjutsu._

**Thanks for the review:** **_Ozeki, Princess of Drama and Softball._**

I really hope that you like this chapter…..

And for my oneshot 'Itch'

I think I will be posting the last chapter this Friday or Saturday but don't worry I think I'm going to write a time-skip for 'Itch'. Two actually, it might be rated T or M, you choose.I already got the ideas in my mind and all I need is to write them down.

**Again thanks for the reviews….It really inspired to continue with this story.**


	3. The Pathfinder

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto……

* * *

"**The Shinobi Path"**

**Adventure/ Romance/ Drama**

**Itachi/Sakura**

**Rated M**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

The footsteps echoed through the dark

and empty hallways of the second

building on the hospital.

The sound was loud among the silent

occupants within the rooms.

A cloth rustled as the figure turn, leading

to the room where she was assign to.

The nurse halted in front of the door

where she could clearly see the room number.

The nurse gazed at the door

before reading the patient's chart in her hands.

**Uchiha Itachi G 03/12/1994**

* * *

_"Itachi!" Uchiha Mikoto screamed at her son who had stopped moving 10 seconds ago._

_Itachi's chest was not expanding to accommodate air and his eyes were glacial and lifeless, staring at the ceiling._

_Uchiha Mikoto wrapped her slender arms around his son before standing up. She could hear her newborn son, Sasuke crying on the other room and the sound of shouting from outside. Their relatives has been awakened by her screams and they were trying to break into the house to find out what had happened but Uchiha Fugaku had placed a barrier to their house, preventing them from finding out what had happened. _

_Uchiha Mikoto walked unsteadily towards the doorway with her son in her arms, still as death. Mikoto passed the nursery room where she could hear the cries of her newborn son but she suddenly halted as she found herself staring at the two figures in front of her. _

_Mikoto glared at her huband._

_"Let me look at him," Mikoto's head whipped to the side as she look at the man standing beside her husband. Mikoto's eyes narrowed at the man and tightened her arms around her son._

_"Mikoto let him take a look at our son." Uchiha Fugaku stated calmly, his arms crossed in front of him as he watched his wife._

_"YOUR SON?" Mikoto screamed at her husband "HOW CAN YOU CALL HIM YOUR SON AFTER WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO HIM?"_

_"Mikoto," Fugaku cut in, his face remaining impassive as he stared at his wife "Itachi will die if you wouldn't allow the doctor to heal him immediately."_

_Mikoto turned to the man beside her husband_ _and hesitated. It had been 15 minutes after they had discovered Itachi_ _on that state and judging by the amount of blood in the floor, Itachi had just bit his tongue seconds before they had entered his room. _

_So the severity of the situation _was _gauged by the blood that Itachi had loss since he had bit his doesn't want her son to die just because she did not trust the doctor her husband had fetch. So Mikoto made her decision and handed her son's limp form to the man._

_"Don't worry, Mikoto-san," The man assured her as he gave her a smile "Your son is in safe hands. I won't allow your son to die like this."_

_The man look at Uchiha Fugaku and noded before disappearing._

_Uchiha Mikoto panicked as the man disappear with her son._

_"Where is he taking him?" Mikoto shouted as she clutched her husband's blue yukata. "Who was that man?"_

_Fugaku stared at his wife before taking her hands from his yukata. Fugaku move her to the side and walked towards the stairways, leading downstairs where they could hear the shouts from their relatives. Uchiha Fugaku still did not release the barrier that was stopping the other clan members from entering their domain._

_Mikoto took the sleeves of her husband and tried to pry an answer from him._

_"Who was that man? Why did he take Itachi with him?" Mikoto choked out as she tried to stop the fresh tears pouring from her distress eyes. Her heart thudded in her chest that she could hear the heart beat in her ears "I thought he was going to heal Itachi here. So why did he took Itachi with him?"_

_Uchiha Fugaku did not reply as he moved away from his wife's grasp. Mikoto stared at her husbands back as he descended down the stairs, her eyes dawning in realization._

_"He isn't from Konoha's Medical team wasn't he?" Mikoto whispered. The question made Fuguka halt on the flight of stairs, with his back to her. _

_"Who was he, Fugaku?" Mikoto asked, her voice rising in pure distress "Tell me!"_

_"I do not trust Konoha's Medics, Mikoto," Fugaku answered "That is why, I brought him here."_

_Mikoto was silent as she listened to her husband's explanation, her tears had stopped but her heart beat was still beating fast._

_"I do not want the Hokage to know what had happen here," Fugaku continued,"He already suspected us that we are involve with the Kyuubi attack that I don't want him to think that we are plotting against him. If the Konoha medics get into Itachi's mind, they would surely find out the evidence of our betrayal."_

_"Why? Have you told Itachi of our plans?"_ _Mikoto asked as she realized what her husband was trying to say._

_"Yes, although Itachi had a dissociative amnesia where he had forgotten the memories during the time that he had become withdrawn and depersonalized."Fugaku replied._

_"Dissociative amnesia?" Mikoto asked, her eyebrows raised._

_Fugaku explained further "The man who had taken Itachi earlier was a medical doctor and he was the one who explained to me of Itachi's state of mind after he had witnessed the war that had occurred two years ago. He told me that Itachi had a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD where the person suffers dissociation or depersonalization. That was why Itachi had become detached to the world and was vulnerable to anything."_

_Mikoto remembered that time when Itachi had become a living shell after her husband had took Itachi outside of Konoha,to witness the effects of 's eyes turned ice as she realized what her husband was implying_

_"So that was why you tortured him with your genjutsu."Uchiha Mikoto spat at him, she slowly walked towards her husband "You wanted him to become vulnerable again so that he can bend to your every will. " _

_Mikoto halted at the top of the stairs as she glared at Fugaku's back._

_"You make me sick!" Mikoto snapped at him "If it wasn't for my parents, I shouldn't have married you!"_

_Uchiha Fuguka suddenly appeared behind her, tagging her hair in warning._

_"If it wasn't for my parents, your family would be dead by now."Fugaku murmured to his wife "After pulling that stunt 15 years ago, your family became as obedient as well trained puppies, right Mikoto-chan?"_

_Mikoto stood frozen as her husband _caressed _the Uchiha Curse Seal that was imprinted on her back beneath her white yukata._

_"Even though I have come to love you Mikoto. It still doesn't mean that, I can't use the seal on you." Fugaku murmured in her ears "After all,you still are the daughter of the family who had tried to kill the head of the Clan 15 years ago."_

_Mikoto was frozen, her heart on her throat as she tried not to panicked_.

"_You should thank me that I'm treating you as a wife and not a slave." Fugaku finally said before releasing her._

_"Itachi will be fine," Fugaku assured her as he continued to descend down the was still frozen on the spot as she stared at her husband retreating form. "He will be back in a few hours."_

_"A few hours?" Mikoto thought._

_"Who was that man, Fugaku?" Mikoto asked, her voice shook and her heart was still racing after her husband had surprised her like that._

_"You know him, Mikoto." Fugaku said over his back "You were introduced to him 6 years ago"_

_"--6 years ago...." Mikoto thought, as she tried to recall. Her husband was already gone from her sight as he walked towards the doorway leading outside their home. She could still hear the shouts coming from outside but the noise disappeared as she suddenly felt dizzy._

_Mikoto's face paled as she finally remembered the person she met 6 years ago. She clutched the railings as she swayed on her feet, her vision blurring._

_"That was him?" Mikoto murmured in shock, she slowly slides onto the floor when her knees could no longer support her._

_Her eyes were wide as she finally understands what her husband did._

_"Fugaku what have you done?"Mikoto whispered in despair._

_The noise from the outside became louder as Uchiha Fugako finally released the barrier that he had place on their house._

* * *

The door opened as the nurse entered the room ,carrying the medication for PSTD nurse placed the the medication on the table and prepared the dosage for Risperidone (Used to help with dissociation, mood and aggression) and Benzodiazepines (Used for short-term anxiety relief).The nurse silently walked towards the still form sitting on the windowsill with two sterile syringe in her hands that contained the form did not move as she read the band on his wrist.

**_Uchiha Itachi_**

**_PSTD_** **_Patient_**

After identifying the patient, the nurse pulled the the cover from the syringe and tested the flow of the liquid on the needle. The medication spurted out from the tip of the needle, proving that the needle was ready to be use. The nurse gently took the patients arm and injects the medication on to the IV tube that was place in his arm. The nurse proceeded to the next medication, injecting the Benzodiazepines on his bloodstream.

The patient was still on the windowsill as the nurse discarded the used syringes into the waste nurse turn to look at the 6 year old boy sitting near the window. The boy had been submitted on the psychiatric ward for over a year now but the boy still did not show any improvement. The nurse had read his files and found out that boy had gone through many medications and therapy but all of them had proven to be fruitless.

She had read the doctor's note on the patient chart and found out that the boy was not eating food for a month. So the doctor had suggested that the patient is to take food from an IV tube which was currently feeding him while he sat there beside the window. The IV stand was perched beside him, the tubes was still intact and working.

The nurse's job was done has other patient to attend to before her shift was over. The nurse was about to leave the room when a small voice spoke behind her.

"When do I leave here?" the boy asked, his voice was hoarse after a year without using it.

The nurse was still shocked at the boy that the question did not register in her mind.

"When do I leave here?" the boy repeated his question, his voice was still hoarse and it shook a little.

The nurse suddenly realized what the boy was asking.

"I don't know" the nurse finally answered. The nurse could not see the boy's reaction to her answer as his face was turn away from her.

"But I'll asked the doctor since I'll be going there to report your sudden recovery" the nurse said, suddenly remembering the doctor's order to report to her if any of the patients had made any sign of improvement or recovery.

The boy was silent as the door closed behind him. He could hear the hurried footsteps echoing outside the empty hallway until it disappeared.

Uchiha Itachi gazed at the full moon outside the window, his thoughts drifted to the events that lead him the memories were foggy and unclear, Itachi could never forget that day.

* * *

**_Uchiha Itachi_**

_"The nightmare...I want it to end." Itachi thought, closing his eyes and ignoring the fire that consumed him. _

_He slowly placed his tongue between his teeth and bit hard. Itachi felt the pain but he ignored it, the blood began to trickle down his chin as Itachi successfully severed his tongue._

_The burning feeling was gone replaced by coldness as he escaped from the genjutsu. His body was stiff, after lying on the floor for three days and his throat was parched without water. The room was pitch black as he lay there in the cold wooden floor, waiting._

_He could feel his severed tongue in his mouth but he could not feel the pain. His limbs were weak and frozen that he could not move them. Itachi was sure that he was going to die there as he felt the blood rushed out from his mouth. The blood trickling down from his chin to the floor, staining the tatami mats. _

_His eyes were blurring when he heard the sound of the shoji doors slide open. He did not blink as the light entered his room. Two figures was standing in the doorway, Itachi heard his mother scream before dashing towards his still form._

_"Itachi," his mother said shaking him_._ Itachi would have replied to her but he could not talked becuase he might accidentally swallow half of his tongue. _

_"Itachi," his mother said to him again but Itachi remained silent as he absently stared at the ceiling; his vision was slowly fading as his blood trickled from the corners of his mouth. _

_His mother suddenly slapped him that he could feel a small sting on his right cheek. His mother called his name again but Itachi could not reply. His mother slapped him for the second time that made his head whipped to the side, loosening his slackened jaw. _

_Itachi felt something slipped from his mouth as his jaw opened. The blood oozed from his tongue as he tried not to choke from his own blood. Itachi gurgled when his blood entered his airway, making it difficult to breathe._

_He tried to close his jaw but he could not. The genjutsu had broken his spirit that he had forgotten how to control his own body. Itachi had become weak after three days of suffering the genjutsu._

_His mother suddenly screamed and Itachi finally found out why. His tongue must have rolled off from his mouth when she had slapped him._

_Itachi swallowed his blood and tried to breathe again. His senses were becoming numb as he listened to his mother's sobs and Sasuke's cries from the other room._

_Itachi lay their in his mother's arms with an open mouth,staring blindly at ceiling as he waited for something to happen. It was like that for about 15 minutes but this time,his mother's voice was becoming distant as he drifted from consciousness to unconsciousness._

_Itachi was dying of blood lost and starvation._

_Itachi fought the darkness as he tried to cling to life._

_Finally, Itachi gave in and allowed Death to claim him._

_The light on his eyes slowly faded._

* * *

Itachi was sure that he had died that day that he could still remember the darkness swallowing him when he had finally got tired of struggling for his life.

The door to his room opened, revealing a petite woman wearing a white lab gown with the nurse trailing behind her.

"So you finally talked," the woman said as she walked towards him. "After a year since your admission, you have finally regained a state of consciousness."

Itachi did not reply as he continued to stare out the window.

"Itachi, how long have you been conscious?" the woman asked as she halted 5 feet away from the unresponsive boy. "The nurse had told me that the first thing you asked her was when you would leave here. So I presumed that you already regain your consciousness for weeks now or even months ago."

Itachi did not acknowledge the question and the doctor's presumption as he watched the clouds parted above him, showing the gentle light of the moon.

The doctor was correct. Itachi had already gained his state of consciousness for a month now. That was why Itachi had refused to eat the food that they had left on his table every meal times which resulted to feeding him with IV tubes.

After a year in a state of semi-consciousness and automation, Itachi had finally flooded in his mind like they were not his own, making Itachi feel like he was a new person that day.

The first time that he had eaten the food in a conscious state, Itachi's stomach had protested that he had vomited on the floor. It felt like, his stomach had not gotten used to the food the nurse was giving him. After that, Itachi had become sickly and weak.

He was a like newborn again with an immature immune had tried to speak the words on his mind but it came out gibberish.

His mind was of a 6 year old boy while his body had been like that of a first month old baby. Itachi could not understand why he could not control his body or the fact that his body was still adapting to the environment like it had just come out from his mother's womb.

But after the following weeks and days, Itachi was finally able to control his body.

"When have you regained you consciousness, Itachi?" the doctor repeated.

"About a month," Itachi spoke softly still looking up at the moon; the light caressing his face. Itachi absentmindedly tagged the necklace on his neck which he discovered when he had woken up from his detach state.

"A month?" the doctor asked as she stood beside him on the window "Why haven't you showed any sign of consciousness then?"

"I didn't want to," Itachi replied simply.

"Why?"the doctor asked her voice showing with curiosity.

The room was silent as the doctor waited for Itachi's answer.

"Because I wanted to stay here" Itachi finally answered, his eyes drifting towards the moon. "...Away from the world"

Itachi continued on, leaving no room for the doctor to interrupt him.

"But I realized that I can't escape it... because I'm still part of that world." Itachi whispered, his breath fogging the windowpanes. Itachi gazed at the foggy glass before raising a finger to write his name.

**_ITACHI_**

"The air I breathe is proof enough that I still belong to the world I despise." Itachi said, the tone of his voice did not change as he stated. "There is no escaping it, so the only choice I have is to faced it"

Itachi finally turned to look at the silent doctor beside him. The nurse was still on the room and had listened to Itachi's words with a sympathetic look on her face.

"I'm done trying to escape my destiny," Itachi said his face showing the truth to his words.

**"My destiny that is woven with blood and tears that I'm willing to shed"**

* * *

"My destiny," Itachi thought as he watched the body of his cousin floating on the Nakano River.

--

"The destiny that I had willingly taken," the words echoing in his mind as he run his katana over his girlfriend and future wife, Uchiha Shinshi,Itachi watched her lifeless body fall with a blank expression.

--

"This is what I was made for," Itachi silently thought as he stepped over the dead bodies of his clansmen and walked towards the house where he had lived all his life. The cries from the other side of the Uchiha Compound faded as his accomplice, Uchiha Madara silence them with the sliced of his gleaming katana.

--

"A weapon of protection," Itachi said to his father who was gazing up at him while he bled to death "that is what I am, Otousan. A protector of this Village, to stop millions of innocent blood from being shed."

"I am not made for destruction, Outasan as what you have tried to make me." Itachi said, his voice neutral and steady as he watched the light on his father's eyes slowly faded

"The years that I have spent training to become what I am now was not for the clan or the village. I did it so that I can protect everyone in the shinobi world..."

"I did it because it was my dream to bring peace to this world, and I will do anything to achieve it even by killing the clan with these hands," Itachi said as he indicated the hands stained by the blood of his clan.

"Traitor," Fugaku whispered as his vision dimmed.

"I became a traitor for good reasons, Otousan and one of them is to stop the Clan from creating another war," Itachi firmly stated as he finally watched his father took his last breath before following his wife to the other side.

--

Itachi gazed at the lifeless form of his father and mother on the tatami mats before turning his head to look at the moon out his parent's bedroom window.

Itachi could hear the soft pitter-patter of footsteps nearing his parent's bedroom; the footsteps came to a stop in front of the door while Itachi waited.

The shoji door slide opened, revealing the small figure of his little brother.

"Kaasan! Otousan" his little brother shouted as he stared at their parent's lifeless body.

Itachi moved and stepped out from the shadows. He slowly takes his eyes off from the moon to look at his little brother.

"Niisan? How-why?" Sasuke asked as tears streamed down his face.

Itachi felt a tagged in his heart as he gazed at his innocent little brother. The sight was too painful for Itachi bear that he almost wanted to tell his brother the truth.

**Almost...**

"This is my destiny," Itachi thought as he stared at the tears on Sasuke's face. "That is why I'm here."

Sasuke was a reminder of the words that he had spoken 5 years ago...words that were spoken to the moon and the wilted flower hidden in his room.

"I HAVE TO PROTECT ALL OF THEM."

"To test my power," Itachi said calmly as he finally made his decision.

* * *

He could never escape from his destiny.

A destiny woven with blood and tears that he had shed and that

Of the people he had crossed paths with.

* * *

_"Foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me, and survive in an unsightly way. Run, run and cling to life. And one day, when you have the same eyes I do, come before me."_ The words echoing on his mind as he fled from the massacre.

Itachi could feel his brother following him as he battled with his emotions. Itachi was still affected by the deaths of parents and his clan; even though he had already killed the most painful part of all was that his innocent little brother who had admired and loved him was currently trying to kill him, after what he had done to the clan.

His little brother caught up to him and attacked him from behind. His hand reaching for his katana but it was too late. A kunai grazed his forehead protector and it fell on the ground. He could hear his little brother panting behind him as Sasuke tried to stay awake after Itachi had exposed him to his Tsukoyumi earlier.

Itachi bent down to retrieve his forehead protector and placed it back on his forehead. A lone tear escaped from his right eye as he turned to gaze at his little brother. Sasuke looked at him before fainting with exhaustion.

Itachi walked towards his little brother, and stared at his unconscious form. Another tear fell from his right eye as he continued to stare at his little brother.

Itachi had killed his bestfriend shisui, his fiancee, his mother, his father and the rest of the clan but he could kill his own brother. Sasuke was too important to him than his mission.

Itachi could not kill him; Sasuke was the only family that he had left; the only person who had treated him as a true human being when others had seen him as a weapon. Sasuke had loved him and had admired him even though their father had totally ignored his younger sibling.

Itachi was glad that his father did not turn Sasuke into a killing machine like he did to him. Itachi had always cherished the moments that he had played with his brother. It reminded him of a time when he had played with a little girl that he had met 5 years ago. Sasuke and that girl had one thing in common...they were both innocent which made Itachi want to protect them.

Itachi had made sure that they were both safe and had gone to the lengths of distracting his father from seeing Sasuke's potential. He had passed the Chuunin Exams at the age of 10 and became the Anbu captain at the age of 13, making no room for Fugaku to even glance at Sasuke's direction.

Itachi realized that his action had made Sasuke determine to surpass him while Itachi had made sure that Sasuke never will, afraid that his father might use Sasuke for his goals. So Itachi had refused to teach Sasuke anything, saying that he might teach him next time.

The day when Itachi became Anbu, his world came crashing down and he spent the following days in hell. He was torn between two loyalties...his loyalty to his clan and his loyalty to his Village.

The words that he had sworn 5 years ago was broken when he had finally cracked and killed his cousin, Shisui who had challenged him into a fight. His cousin Shisui had been watching his movements after the Anbu had accepted him into their ranks. Itachi was sure that his father was the one who ordered Shisui to play as watch dog since Shisui had always been closed to him.

Itachi had been sitting in the river bank of the Nakano River, near the civilian residences when Shisui had found him there. Shisui had challenged him into a fight and had tried to kill him during their battle. Itachi had dismissed it as nothing but an accident each time Shisui tried to aim his katana towards his heart and other vital organs but when Shisui's katana grazed the skin over his heart. Itachi suddenly realized that Shisui's aims earlier were deliberate. Shisui was really trying to kill Itachi had trapped Shisui into a water barrier that he had copied during his trip to the wave country.

Itachi had felt betrayed and had glared at Shisui as Itachi placed a genjutsu over was too angry to noticed that his cousin was drowning and when Itachi finally did, it was already too late. Itachi immediately left the sight and had gone home looking sick to the stomach. Itachi had made the suicide letter, copying his cousins handwriting that made Itachi twitched in revulsion at his act.

He knew why Shisui had wanted to kill him... Shisui had been jealous of him. It was the love of his fiancée that pushed Shisui towards the edge of killing him. Uchiha Shinshi became his fiancée and girlfriend when his father had introduced her to him 4 months ago, after he became Anbu. Shinshi was two years his senior but she was petite and fragile that she look like his age.

Shinsi was beautiful and well-bred that Shisui had immediately fell in love with her when he had introduced her to him. Shisui did not speak to him for a month and had told him many times that he was busy when Itachi had seek him knew the truth of course, Shisui was busy keeping an eye on him from the distance but Itachi had chosen to ignore it. He knew his father enough to know that Shisui was not there to look after his was there to ensure that he did not betray the Clan.

Aside from the fact that his 'BFF' had become his personal watchdog, his father had also taken control of his love life by securing Shinshi as his future bride just for the sake of the Clan and to control his emotions. Itachi felt like a cage a animal but during that time, Sasuke was the only one that had kept the semblance of normality in his life

Although Itachi had acted oddly during the passed few days, Sasuke had always been persistent learning the Shuriken throwing. Itachi would have gladly taught him but he was afraid that his mission might be compromised if he spent time with his brother. Itachi did not want for Sasuke to know that their Clan was planning to destroy the peace in Konoha. So Itachi had asked his parents to keep Sasuke in the dark in exchange for his absolute participation to the Clan's attempt at Coup d'etat.

Itachi had followed through his part of the bargain and had spied for the Clan but in the end Itachi had betrayed the Clan. All for one reason, he did not want another war to break in the Shinobi world. He did not want more lives shed just because his Clan had wanted to take over the Village.

He was still traumatized by the war that he had witnessed 9 years ago and the Hokage's councilors had taken advantage of the fact. His submission to the psychiatric ward 8 years ago had been written in all the files pertaining to his name. That was one of the reason why they had chosen him to become their spy and the second one was that he had come from the Clan who had been under suspicion for many years following the attacked of the Kyuubi.

In all the days that he became a double agent for the Clan and the Village, Itachi had been trying his best to act normal until he had finally broken. After going into the secret clan meetings and spying for the Village,Itachi had enough of it and had 'weaseled' out to the Hokage of the Clan's plan at Coup d'etat.

After killing his best friend, Itachi had achieved the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan that had helped him annihilate his clan. Itach had also found out the existence of one Uchiha Madara who was also plotting his revenge for the Senju and the Uchiha Clan.

Uchiha Madara, one of the founding fathers of the Hidden Village of leaf was alive and breathing and Itachi was the only one who knew that he was still alive. Their paths had crossed and both sealed the faith of the Uchiha Clan.

Itachi had made an agreement with Madara, Itachi would help him kill their Clan but in one condition...Madara would not harm the village. Madara had agreed but Itachi could feel that he had other plans in mind although Itachi had left it at that.

That faithful night as Itachi walked into the Uchiha Compund, marked the day of his dishonor and the day that he had become a hero built on illusion and deception.

That night Itachi had made himself a secret...a secret that could shake the foundations of Konoha by just revealing the simple truth behind the Uchiha Massacre.

--

Itachi stood there gazing at his little brother.

"Sasuke," Itachi murmured quietly "It would be easy for you that you don't know the truth"

Itachi turned and said to the unconscious form behind him as he slowly walked away from the massacre.

"All I want for you is to continue with your life and become stronger."

Itachi halted at the entrance of the Uchiha did not look back but instead he stood there gazing up at the full moon.

_"Foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me, and survive in an unsightly way. Run, run and cling to life. And one day, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me."_

The words echoed on his mind as he stepped out from the Uchiha Compound. Itachi could not say goodbye to his little brother so Itachi had said those words to him as a way of saying his farewell.

"I'll be waiting for you, Sasuke," Itachi thought as he leaps into a tree and towards the Hokage Tower. "and I hope that day will come when you will be the one to end my life."

* * *

**_"The Pathfinder"_**

A sun-brightened moon knelt down,  
shone like fangs into her bed.  
Dark cherry red spilled slowly,  
as masks from ancients below.

Then I roamed into the night.

His defeated psyche's found,  
lain across a fountain's head.  
Another made him lonely  
to face the water alone.

I roamed again into night.

Shambles of a sky fall around,  
their eyes see we will be dead.  
Massacre leaving only  
smoke rising above our Home.

I slept eternal into Night.

**_by High Flyer_**

* * *

Itachi stood on the tree branch as he gazed at the the gates of Konoha, unconsciously twirling the wilted flower on his fingers. The Hokage did not raise the alarm yet after he had reported the success of his Hokage had been grim as he accepted Itachi's report and Itachi had also told him of his little brother, Sasuke. Itachi had pleaded to spare Sasuke's life and the Hokage had been complied without hesitation. Itachi has also asked the Hokage not to tell his brother the truth behind the massacre and to protect him from Danzou, the Hokage had accepted Itachi's request. After that, Itachi had left the Village but not before threatening Danzou that he would kill him, if he as so plan to harm a hair on his brother's head.

"How long would you plan on staying here?" a voice said beside him, making Itachi react on pure instict. Itachi was still wearing his bloody Anbu gear with his katanas on his back, Itachi reached for his katana when he realized who the person was.

"Madara," Itachi said but he still did not relax his grip on his Katana. Itachi did not trust this man who had helped him annihilate his Clan. The dark chakra emitting from him made Itachi want to choked and put as much as distance from the man but he did not dare show any discomfort.

"Where are you going after this?" Madara asked as he too looks at the gates leading towards Konoha.

"I will be going to the Spring Country," Itachi replied as he listened to the crickets around them, the wilted flower enclosed on his left fist.

"May I ask why you have chosen such unusual a location to hide?" Madara looked at the boy beside him.

Itachi was not given an opportunity to answer when they both heard the alarm being raised.

"You may come with me if you want," Madara said to him. Itachi turned to look at the man who was wearing an orange mask. "Our organization would be proven powerful to have another Uchiha among their midst,"

"But this is not the time to discuss this matters," Madara said as they both detected chakra signatures nearing their location. "We have to leave immediately before they can catch up with us."

Itachi nodded and was about to leap onto another branch when a hand stopped him.

"This would be a faster way of traveling." Madara said as Itachi suddenly found himself consumed by darkness, but Itachi's gazed had trailed onto the wilted flower that had slipped from his grasp.

The faded pink color slowly disappearing from his sight as the blackhole swallowed him.

The next day, the Anbu reported to the Hokage that the Uchiha Itachi had suddenly diappeared leaving nothing but a wilted flower with a faint trace of his chakra.

The Hokage had conducted a false search mission the following months to find the Uchiha Clan murderer but all was in vain. The Anbu Operatives could not find any faint whispers of the Uchiha Clan murderer or even sightings of one 13 year old boy.

It seems that, Uchiha Itachi had suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth.

--

_The candle flickered in the dimly-lighted room__ as the_

_8 figures stood gazing at the small form in front of them__._

_The room was silent._

_"Welcome to the Akatsuki Organization, Uchiha Itachi."_

_The man said, his Rinnegan glowing._

* * *

**_R&R please..._**

I hope that you like this chapter.

Sorry for the long wait but I'm very busy with my exams the previous week .I think this chapters next update will be the week after next because I'm going to study for my finals next week.

I have so many projects and exams that I have no time to write my story. I have to concentrate with my studies first before I can continue with fic.

I am really sorry for the inconvenience...

**_What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD?_**

**Post traumatic stress disorder **(**PTSD**)

_is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to one or more terrifying events that threatened or caused grave physical is a severe and ongoing emotional reaction to an extreme reference. This stressor may involve someone's actual death, a threat to the patient's or someone else's life, serious physical injury, or threat to physical or psychological integrity, overwhelming usual psychological defenses coping. In some cases it can also be from profound psychological and emotional trauma, apart from any actual physical harm. Often, however, the two are combined._

**_Causes_**

_PTSD is believed to be caused by psychological trauma. Possible sources of trauma includes experiencing or witnessing childhood or adult physical, emotional or sexual abuse. In addition, experiencing or witnessing an event perceived as life-threatening such as physical assault, adult experiences of sexual assault, accidents, drug addiction,illnesses, medical complications, or the experience of, or employment in occupations exposed to war (such as soldiers) or disaster (such as workers)._

**(AN: Itachi had PSTD after he had witnessed the war between the Hidden Village of Stone and Hidden Village of Leaf.)**

**_Symptoms:_**

A. Exposure to a traumatic event

B. Persistent reexperience (e.g. flashbacks, nightmares)

**(AN: After the war, Itachi had difficulty falling asleep because he was afraid of facing his nightmares.)**

C. Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma (e.g. inability to talk about things even related to the experience. Avoidance of things and discussions that trigger flashbacks and reexperiencing symptoms. Fear of losing control.)

**(AN: The statement above can be use as an example as how Itachi had reacted after being exposed to war. Itachi's dream had been to become a ninja but after gazing at the dead bodies of the aftermath of war. Itachi decided that he didn't want to become a shinobi anymore because as what I have described in the first chapter **

_'Itachi had never thought of dying .The thought had never even crossed his mind that if he had as so choose the shinobi path, would end up like them. One day lying among the bloody carcasses while a child would survey his lifeless body like he was doing to the thousands of shinobis scattered before him.'_

**Also in the second chapter when Hana had questioned him, Itachi had avoided the subject that made him remeber the nightmares that he had telling Hana riddles of what had trully happen and telling her that he had went through hell)**

D. Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (e.g. difficulty falling or staying asleep, anger and hypervigilance)

**(AN: In the second chapter, it was revealed that Itachi had nightmares which was related to the war that had occured when he was 4 years old, although it was on the genjutsu. The war had also made Itachi highly sensetive to possible threats or as they call it, hypervigilance. In chapter two, I also wrote how Inuzuka Hana( Itachi's female genin team mate) noticed that **

_'Itachi there were dark shadows on his eyes every time she sees him.'**)**_

E. Duration of symptoms more than 1 month

**(AN: In the first chapter, Itachi had suffered PSTD over a month during and after the war. Then after that Itachi had become withdrawn and depersonalized which Uchiha Fugaku took advantage of. The PSTD had resurface again when the Kyuubi attacked the Village which was why in the first chapter Itachi's nightmare came back to hunt him.**

_'Not until the kyuubi attacked Konoha that his nightmares resurface which in turn made him realized to the path that he had blindly followed.'_

**That was also the time when Itachi had started to refuse to train with his father. Itachi had avoided to train with his father because it would only trigger the memories that he had tried to avoid.)**

F. Significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (e.g. problems with work and relationships.)

**(AN: Itachi became socially impaired that he could even a decent conversation with anyone. Although Itachi had talked with Hana and Shisui but he was not the one who initiated the conversation.)**

**_What is Depersonalization Disorder?_**

**Depersonalization Disorder**

_The symptoms include a sense of automation, going through the motions of life but not experiencing it, feeling as though one is in a movie, feeling as though one is in a dream, feeling a disconnection from one's body; out-of-body experience, a detachment from one's body, environment and difficulty relating oneself to reality. For all, it is a rather disturbing illness, since many feel that indeed, they are living in a "dream"._

_DPD can be considered a defense mechanism as the core symptoms of the disorder, are enforced to protect the victim from any more negative stimuli. Victims of the disorder relatively feel as though their 'individuality' has been lost or changed, occupying this an individual with the disorder may feel as though, when he/she looks in the mirror, he/she feels a "stranger" to him/her self. This is notably due to the detachment of the external environment and due to the detachment of the 'sense of self'._

_Sufferers retain the ability to distinguish between their own internal experiences and the objective reality of the outside world. Brief periods of depersonalization are notably caused by severe anxiety, stress, a lack of sleep, or a combination._

**(AN: Itachi had PSTD for a month after witnessing the war and soon after that Itachi became detached from the world as what I have described in my first chapter "He became a walking human shell; unable to act and think on his own, vulnerable to his father's will". which he had shown all of the symptoms below)**

**_Symptoms:_**

_Flavor of meals no longer gives a feeling of pleasure or distaste_

_Smell of things no longer gives feeling of pleasure or dislike_

_Being able to stare into space much more easily_

_No emotions felt when weeping or laughing_

_Unable to feel affection towards family and friends_

_Feeling detached from bodily pain_

_Feeling of being a detached observer of oneself_

_Feeling of not having any thoughts at all_

_Feeling of being outside the body_

_Feeling mechanical and 'robotic' when moving_

_Own voice sounds remote and unreal_

_Unable to feel properly things touched with hands_

_Urge to touch oneself to be reassured of bodily existence_

_Body feels very light, as if it were floating on air_

_See oneself outside, as if looking in a mirror_

_Surroundings feel detached or unreal_

_Things look flat, as if looking at a picture_

_When in a new situation, feeling as if it had happened before_

_Recently done things feel as if they took place a long time ago_

_Unable to picture things in mind_

_Personal memories feel as if one had not been involved in them_

_Feeling unreal or cutoff from the world_

_Body feels as if it didn't belong to oneself_

_Not feeling frightened in normally frightening situations_

_Favorite activities no longer enjoyable_

_Feeling as though objects look smaller or further away_

_Previously familiar places look unfamiliar_

**_(AN: Itachi had also become depersonalized after his father had exposed him to the genjutsu. His depresonalized disorder was not that severe and persistent that the nurses had prioritize Itachi's PTSD instead which had been persisting for the passed years. Ofcourse the nurse did not know that his father was the one had made Itachi replay the nightmares on his mind)_**

**_What is Dissociative Amnesia?_**

**_Psychogenic amnesia_**_, also known as **functional** or **dissociative amnesia**, is a disorder characterized by abnormal memory functioning in the absence of structural brain damage or a known neurobiological cause; severe cases are very rare. It is defined by the presence of retrograde amnesia or the inability to retrieve stored memories and events leading up to the onset of amnesia and an absence of anterograde amnesia or the inability to form new long term memories. In most cases, patients lose their autobiographical memory and personal identity even though they are able to learn new information and perform everyday functions normally. Other times, there may be a loss of basic semantic knowledge and procedural skills such as reading and writing._

_Patients exposed to physically or emotionally traumatic events and are at a higher risk for developing psychogenic amnesia because they seem to damage the neurons in the brain. Examples of individuals at greater risk of psychogenic amnesia due to traumatic events include soldiers who have experienced combat, individuals sexually and physically abused during childhood and individuals who have been experienced domestic violence, natural disasters, or terrorist acts; essentially any sufficiently severe psychological stress, internal conflicts, or intolerable life abuse, especially chronic child abuse starting at an early age has been related to the development of high levels of dissociative symptoms, including amnesia for abuse memories. The study strongly suggested that "independent corroboration of recovered memories of abuse is often present" and that the recovery of the abuse memories generally is not associated with psychotherapy._

**(AN: Itachi had a dissociative amnesia during the time when he had become depersonlized. He had forgotten what his father had told him about the plans of their clan because Itachi was incapable of retrieving stored memories during the days when he had trained with his father.)**

Hope you understand what I'm trying to say...I know it was a long explanation. If you want to learn more, just checked it out on the wikipedia where I had gotten the information.

I think I'm not going to update for very long time because I'm very busy studying. I can't even update my story 'Itch' because of my hectic schedule. I am really sorry for not updating soon...

I really hope you like this chapter. I know that I had taken out Sakura but she will be appearing maybe in the 5th chapter because the 4th chapter will still be focusing on Itachi's life.

This is a romance fic but I haven't gotten into it beacuse I'm still busy with making you understand why Itachi had killed the Clan. This story had already revealed some spoilers to the latest manga which is currently on Chapter 417.

Thank you for adding me to you favorite authors and favorite stories.

Also thanks for the reviews: **Shaudelovesanime,Soft ball91, Mokulule, Melodi Moon and Lost-Soul Dying.**

Your reviews had helped me in continuing this story.

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!

I hope I'll see you next time...


	4. Break the Ice

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Naruto_

'_Italic_'--past

'Normal'--present

'**Bold**'--narrator?

--

For the present...

'**Bold**' Zetsu's black side

'Normal' Zetsu's white side

'**_Bold with Italic_**' Zetsu's black side is thinking

'_Italic_' Zetsu's white side is thinking

* * *

**The Shinobi Path**

**Romance/General**

**Rated T**

**Itachi/Sakura**

**Chapter 4  
**

* * *

**It all began on that day………………..**

--

**_Flashback_**

_Uchiha Fugaku released the barrier to their home and his relatives immediately throw themselves inside his humble domain. Then there was silence as his clansmen met his unwavering stare._

"_What happen here?" one of his clansmen demanded_

_Uchiha Fugaku was silent as he stared at them._

_He heard his wife hobbling on the stairs and Fugaku answered their question before his wife would say something that would ruin his plans._

"_My wife is not feeling well," Fugaku explained to his relatives "and she needs immediate care before she collapsed."_

_As if commanded by magic words, Uchiha Mikoto immediately fainted on the stairs. Her form slumped on the balustrade. The women of his clan went to the unconscious form as they tried to revive her._

"_We heard Mikoto-chan screaming," his brother in law, Uchiha Teyaki said as he watched the women fan the unconscious form of his sister then directing his sharingan eyes at the clan leader._

"_What happen here, Fugaku?" Teyaki demanded "What did you do to my little sister?"_

_The air was filled with tension as the other members of the clan waited for Fugaku's answer with bated breath. Uchiha Fugaku looked at the man with a stoic expression on his face. Both men stared at each other as Fugaku answered his brother in law._

"_You should know by now, Teyaki that I would never harm Mikoto." Fugaku said calmly to the silent man in front of him. "There's no need for you to worry because she's after all the mother of my children. My newborn son and Itachi will need her in the future. So I advice you to deactivate your sharingan before I use the Uchiha curse seal on you."_

_Uchiha Teyaki just stared him for a moment before deactivating his sharingan._

"_What really happen here Fugaku?" Uchiha Uruchi, Teyaki's wife asked as she holds the limp form of her sister-in-law is her arms as the other two women fan their hands over Mikoto's pale face._

_Fugaku turned his head to look at the women surrounding his wife. His dark brown eyes halted on the plump woman holding his wife. Uchiha Uruchi directly met his eye without wavering; she was a brave woman for standing up against the Clan Leader with just her stare. The other clan members was not surprised by the woman's action, Uchiha Uruchi and her husband Uchiha Teyaki had always been like that after the former Head of the Clan had placed the Uchiha curse seal on their family. _

_Some of their family members had not survived from the sealing and had died immediately. Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Teyaki was the only one of the survivors and the rest had perished into dust after defying the former Head of the Clan. Their obedience to the Head of the Clan was the only thing that kept them alive but it won't be long before they too will vanish like the others, except for Uchiha Mikoto. The love of her husband had made Uchiha Mikoto escape the faith of their family. Her curse seal on her back was still whole and intact without any missing kanji that marked her life span._

_Uchiha Teyaki had only 5 kanji left which meant that he has 5 more years to live while Uchiha Uruchi has 9 years to live before the seal will activate and end their life. Uchiha Fugaku had tolerated their existence for the love of his wife that was why he had not taken any kanji from them since the day he had come to love Mikoto. But now that Mikoto was unconscious, Uchiha Fugaku gained the upper hand._

_The kanji on Uchiha Uruchi's back felt like hot coals as Uchiha Fugaku took another kanji from her. There were only 8 kanjis left on her back and Uchiha Uruchi doubled over as the pain faded away. Uchiha Uruchi released her tight hold on Mikoto's unconscious form and looked up at Fugaku with unshed tears. Uruchi saw her husband move from the corner of her eyes and she stopped him before he could harm Fugaku._

"_Teyaki, No!" Uruchi gasped out as her husband activated his sharingan and was now holding a kunai in his hands._

_The other clan members just stood on the sidelines as they watched the event that took place._

"_Yo-you know…. what would happen… if you kill him." Uruchi said in between breaths as she directed her pleading eyes at her husband. "We are not the only one who gets to die but your sister too"_

_Uchiha Teyaki lowered the Kunai as he looked at his wife but not before shooting a glare at Fugaku's stiff back. _

_Uchiha Fugaku turn to look at the rest of his clan, and ordered them to leave with just the look on his eyes. The clan hesitated before turning to leave, the two women surrounding Mikoto slowly walked towards the door leaving Uruchi to look after her sister-in-law. Teyaki stood near the doorway as the clan closed the door behind them but Fugaku could still feel their presence outside._

_Uchiha Fugaku directed his attention back to the two people remaining inside his home. _

_Uchiha Teyaki and Uruchi were silent as they waited for Uchiha Fugaku's orders. The kanji burning in their back as they tried hard to repressed the immense feeling of hatred as they stared at the man in front of them._

"_What really happen here, Fugaku-sama?" Uruchi repeated her question earlier, adding the honorific to lessen the throbbing pain on her back._

_Uchiha Fugaku looked at them before answering; he knew that they would never tell anyone. The Uchiha curse seal would secure the truth from ever being discovered but this fact did not stopped Fugaku from not telling them the truth._

"_Itachi," Fugaku began "attempted suicide."_

**_A hero built on illusion and deception._**

"_Suicide?" Uruchi asked in shock, her husband's ears perking in interest and had stopped glaring at the Uchiha Clan leader._

"_Yes," Fugaku answered simply_

"_Why?" Teyaki asked his eyes scanning Fugaku's expressionless face._

"_Itachi had been traumatized by war and had suffered nightmares ever since," Fugaku explained, looking directly at Teyaki's black eyes._

**_An illusion that had been weaved to deceive the prying eyes._**

"_--and when Itachi could no longer take the nightmares anymore, he bit his tongue to escape from that nightmare." Fugaku said behind his back as he walked up the stairs, passing Uruchi and his unconscious wife on the way. He could hear his newborn son crying from above him but he ignored it. He had to clean the evidence of Itachi's 'attempted suicide' to hide the truth from the Hokage._

"_Where is he now?" Uruchi asked, she was still sitting from the bottom stairs. Fugaku did not look at her as he answered her question._

"_I called for a doctor to heal him," Fugaku said as he halted at the top of the stairs and waited for Teyaki to follow him._

"_But I did not choose a doctor from Konoha." Fugaku turned around towards the direction of his son's bedroom."I did not want for the Hokage to know about what happen tonight."_

"_So that's why you put the barriers around your house," Teyaki said coldly, glancing at Fugaku as they walked towards Itachi's bedroom. "to stopped the other clan members and the Hokage from finding out the truth."_

"_No," Fugaku said to him directly _

"_--I did it because I did not want the Hokage to know of our plans," Fugaku said as they both halted at the open doorway leading to Itachi's room. Fugaku and Teyaki both entered the room, their eyes landing on the pool of blood on the floor._

"_It was all for the sake of our clan," Fugaku finally said as his eyes catch the sight of a small pink object lying on top of the blood pool. The room was suddenly silent._

"_Is that Itachi's tongue?" Teyaki asked as he stared at the small object with wide eyes._

_Fugaku did not answer immediately as he too watched the unmoving thing._

"_Yes," Fugaku silently replied before bending down to retrieve it._

* * *

**_"Scarlet Nights"_**

Scarlet visions adrift,  
permeate the mind  
as soul grasps for air.  
Thoughts on fire  
beckon mid my sleep.

Feel the heat of hell  
draw near as the  
night lights the way.  
Into my nightmares  
red devil eyes creep.

Raging embers flash,  
breaks the silence  
of the eerie red mist.  
The sins of man sown  
we must now reap.

On the Inferno's edge,  
struggling to awake,  
flames begin to consume.  
Destiny can not be  
in pit of hell so deep.

Scarlet flames before me,  
mind feverishly searches  
for day's crimson sunrise.  
So for one more day,  
my soul I may keep.

**by Sandygram**

* * *

(**_Spoiler Warning:_**_Chapter 391_)

**Present**

**_Fate had finally caught up with them._**

The Black Fire burning around the Uchiha Clan Hideout as two brothers decided their fate.

"Sasuke," Itachi said to his brother as sweat beaded on his face. His mouth was smeared with the dried blood that he had expelled earlier. His eyes becoming unfocused and his movement slow but Itachi was determine to fulfill his destiny.

"You've become strong...very strong." Itachi said as he looked at his brother's level three form. Sasuke had activated Orochimaru's curse seal after using Kirin which would have obliterated Itachi if he didn't use his last and final eye technique to his Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Behold...The last weapon in my arsenal." Itachi said as a huge and skeletal figure loomed behind him.

"Susano'o"

The True Battle Begins.

* * *

_"The Anbu had already notice the disturbance earlier," Teyaki said to Fugaku as they both exited Itachi's room "and had immediately went to report to the Hokage...it won't be long before they arrive."_

_Fugaku turned towards Teyaki, "Teyaki,I want you to handle the sure that they stay oblivious to what had really happen here. I'll be the one telling the Anbu and the Hokage."_

_"I also want you to prevent the Hokage and the Anbu from entering our house before they could find out that my eldest son is missing."_

_Teyaki nodded and asked the question that had been bugging him earlier." Where did the doctor took Itachi?"_

_Fugaku did not answer as he looked at Teyaki with a blank look on his face._

_"The Hokage and the Anbu would be arriving soon," Fugaku said as his voice turned ice " aAnd I want you to go outside and do what I ordered you to do."_

_The 5th kanji on Teyaki's back throbbed painfully as he nodded his answer. His lips pursed into a tight line as he walked away from Fugaku._

_Fugaku mentally released his hold on Teyaki's curse seal and stood there for a moment before going to the other direction of the nursery room where his youngest son was still crying._

* * *

(**_Spoiler Warning:_** Chapter 392-393)

"...You finally show yourself..." Itachi said as he watched Orochimaru emerged from the mouth of one of his hydra technique.

"Ahh!That's--" the white side of Zetsu said as they watched the half naked form of Orochimaru appeared from inside the huge white snake.

Orochimaru made an evil laugh as he finally got out from Sasuke's look at Itachi before slowly barfing out his Kusanagi sword.

"Always with the barfing stuff and the coming out of snake mouths...He grosses me out." the white side of Zetsu said as they watched the fight.

"**_The snake connection is no coincidence...he is as persistent as a king cobra._**" the black side thought as they both recorded the fight for Uchiha Madara to watched later.

"Here and now! The chance I've been waiting for has finally come!" Orochimaru proclaimed while Itachi just stared at him with a blank look on his face.

"And it's all thanks to you forcing Sasuke-kun to expend the chakra he used to keep me suppressed!" Orochimaru rumbled.

"I'll take his body for my own and defeat--" Orochimaru's rumbling was cut off short when Itachi got tired of him. The Sakegari's katana pierced all the way through Orochimaru and through the head of his huge white width of the blade running from his sternum to his pelvis as Itachi looked at him looking bored to death.

"--You?" Orochimaru said in surprise as he stared wide eyed at Itachi.

"Alright, Sasuke," Itachi turned to look at his brother "Got anything else." his lips curving into a smirk as he mocked his brother.

Itachi heard Orochimaru chuckle and Itachi turn towards him again.

"You don't really think a little cut like this will be enough to stop me--" Orochimaru began but he suddenly stopped when he felt something unusual.

"Th-this...it can't be...the sword of totsuka?" Orochimaru said in shocked as he gazed at the sword that pierced him before turning to look at Itachi "Itachi...you had it all along?"

Orochimaru started to melt into a pile of gray goo.

"A spirit sword with no real physical form, "The white side of Zetsu said, watching Orochimaru melt "No wonder...no matter where he could never find it..."

"**So what's the story behind it**?" the black side of Zetsu asked.

"The sword of totsuka also known as Sakegari's katana is a weapon said to carry sealing powers." the white side of Zetsu replied. "Anyone and anything it pierces becomes trapped in a blissful dream-like genjutsu for all eternity...or so the legend goes."

"The blade itself is enchanted with an incredible sealing technique... the ultimate counter to the sword of kusanagi."

"_Orochimaru searched for it all his life._" the white side of Zetsu thought as they watched Orochimaru disappear with his huge white snake.

"**_All on top of his eye techniques..._**" The black side of Zetsu thought after watching Orochimaru's hydra technique disappears. "**_Boy, Itachi's one tough dude!_**"

The remaining snakes of Orochimaru dived back into Sasuke's curse seal while Itachi watched his brother, his left eye bleeding as he directed his spoken words to Sasuke.

"End of the line Sasuke."

Itachi's Susano'o suddenly faltered as Itachi concentrated in controlling it, his chest throbbing in pain as he watched with unfocused eyes at his little brother. Sasuke was slumped in the ground as the remaining of the snakes disappeared with the cursed seal on his right shoulder. Not noticing the white snake slithering on the ground as it tried to escape.

The spectral form of Susano'o began sizzling before it exploded,clouds of smoke rising from it.

"_Man...What is up with Itachi's jutsu_?" the white side of Zetsu thought as he watched the white smoke obscuring Itachi from their view.

Itachi's chest exploded in pain and Itachi gasped for breath. He felt a warm and sticky liquid coming up his throat and Itachi choked .He doubled over and tried to stop the blood from flooding into his esophagus. His chest was burning and his vital organs were already bleeding. The disease that he had tried to hide was slowly showing. He clutched the cloth of his shirt before swallowing back the blood.

The cloud of smoke cleared and Zetsu looked at Itachi who was bowing down and holding his shirt. Blood dripping from his mouth as Itachi looked up.

"Looks like using this 'susano'o technique' carries a lot of risk." the black side of Zetsu said as he watched Itachi's bent form still clutching his black Akatsuki shirt.

"Yeah, but Sasuke can't even use his Sharingan now..." the white side of Zetsu said as he watched Sasuke heaving from the other side of the Uchiha Clan hideout.

"And Orochimaru's powers just got ripped out of him..." the white side of Zetsu continued as they finally noticed the missing curse seal on Sasuke's shoulder. "Itachi's got this wrapped up, no?"

"Your eyes belong to me now," Itachi said as he stared at his brother.

"I'll take them slowly...I want to savor this." Itachi said in between breaths.

* * *

_"Fugaku," a voice said in the darkness as his red eyes watched Fugaku holding the bundle of spiky black hair in his arms._

_Fugaku turned to the man who was carrying the limp form of his eldest son._

_"This will be the last time that I would enter your house," the man said his sharingan eyes glowing. "I have other important matters to attend to and I expect that you have already fulfilled the end of your bargain before I come back here and claim what is mine"_

_Fugaku nodded his head, still holding the silent form of his youngest son._

_The man's eyes shifted to look at the bundle in Fugaku's arm and then turn his head to look at Itachi's wet and cold form. The room was silent for a moment._

_"Fugaku," the man finally said as he looked at the man opposite to him "Look after them for me."_

_"They will be a great asset to the new generation of the Uchiha Clan." the man said as he placed Itachi on the ground._

_"I assume that the plans of Konoha's take over have already been put to motion," the man stood up as he looked back at Fugaku, who nodded his head._

_The man was silent as he looked at Fugaku before finally saying "I will be watching and waiting for what would happen next then."_

_A black hole appeared beside the man and he entered into it._

_"But remember this Fugaku," the man said coldly "If something goes wrong, I will never be as forgiving as before."_

_"I will obliterate Konoha with the Clan along with it."_

_"Except for Itachi and Sasuke..."_

_"I need them in the future," the voice faded into the darkness leaving Fugaku to breath in relief as the menacing chakra disappeared._

_Fugaku stared at the limp form on the ground before stepping closer to it. His sharingan activated as he looked at Itachi's small form. Fugaku's eyes suddenly widen when he found out that Itachi was no longer breathing and his heart had stopped beating._

_Fugaku went back to the crib and placed Sasuke there and came back to Itachi's cold and dead body, hauling him into his arms. He hurried towards the door and in the matter of 45 seconds he had already reached the foot of the stairs with Uruchi still sitting there and fanning Mikoto's unconscious form._

_"Fugaku!" Uruchi exclaimed in surprise as he came barreling downstairs carrying the limp form of Itachi in his arms "Is that--"_

_His earlier thought of not handing Itachi to the Konoha Medics was soon forgotten as he opens the door leading outside. His wife would be heart broken if she finds out that her son was dead after handing hims to the 'mysterious person.'_

_He threw the door open and he was met by the sight of Teyaki delaying the Hokage and the Anbu, the rest of the clan watching them. All eyes turn to Fugaku as he halted at the open doorway._

_"Fugaku, what is the meaning of this?" The Hokage demanded as he escaped from Teyaki and walked towards the man standing at the doorway. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konohagakure halted as he stared at the limp form in Fugaku's arms._

_"It that your son, Fugaku?" Sarutobi asked as he noticed that Itachi was already pale and his chest was no longer rising, suddenly realizing the severity of the situation, The Sandaime dispatch one of his Anbu to bring Itachi to the Hospital._

_"What happened here, Fugaku?" The Hokage asked and Fugaku turned away from the Anbu that had left with Itachi. Fugaku had handed Itachi to the Anbu without hesitation, if he had it would surely look suspicious. He could feel the sudden stirrings of curiosity coming from his relatives and from the three teams of Anbu surrounding the Hokage. _

_"Hmmm...He even brought three teams of Anbu to watch over him," Fugaku thought as he surveyed the Anbu's "This is how much the Hokage do not trust the Uchiha Clan."_

_"I'll tell you later, Hokage-sama," Fugaku said as he turned to the side and looked inside the house at his wife's unconscious form. "I have to tend to my also needs some medical care."_

_The Hokage looked at the woman inside the house and slowly turned his head to Fugaku and nodded his consent._

_"We will discuss this at the hospital then."_

* * *

**_Yes, it all began on that day..._**

**_The day when Uchiha Itachi was announced dead._**

_"I'm sorry to tell you this, Uchiha-san," the doctor said as he closed the door leading to the emergency room. "But your son did not survive..."_

_Fugaku stared blankly at him as he heard the bad news. _

_"Your son had already been dead since the Anbu carried him to the emergency room." the doctor further explained as he looked at the stoic man in front of him._

_"We tried reviving him but it was futile. His heart rate remains at agonal level when we tried the chakra shock." _

_"There was no response from him--" the doctor suddenly halted when Fugaku started forward and entered the door to the emergency room. _

T_he doctor remains standing there as the door closed._

_Uchiha Fugaku looked at the pale form of his son on the surgical other medic-nins left the room to give him some privacy with his son._

_"What did he do to you, Itachi?" Fugaku mentally asked "I thought you became a part of his plans after he created you."_

_"What is he planning to do now that you're dead?" Fugaku murmured to the dead body of his son._

_His wife would be devastated if she heard the news and Fugaku did not want that. His wife was still weak after she had given birth to their second son. If she found out about Itachi's death, Mikoto would surely lose her mind with grief._

_"Uchiha-san," the doctor said entering the room. "The Hokage is requesting your presence." _

_Fugaku did not turn around but nodded his head in answer as he looked at his son's still form before turning away. He was on his way to the door when he felt the sudden surged of chakra coming from the form that he was about leave behind._

_Uchiha Fugaku's head whipped and stared at Itachi's body. The doctor had also felt it too and had stood frozen at the doorway. They both watched as the body slowly stirred and the doctor was slowly brought back to earth. The doctor was immediately there in Itachi's side as he inspect him._

_"B-but how?" the doctor asked in surprise as he halted his inspection after confirming that Itachi was really breathing and alive. "He was already dead when he got here."_

_The doctor looked at Fugaku, still in shock._

_"His was not breathing and his heart had stopped pumping before he arrived here," the doctor tried to assure himself that he did not make a mistake._

_"My nurse, Hyuuga Teshiko had confirmed that." the doctor continued on while Fugaku listened to him." She found out that the Beta wave on his brain was disturbed resulting to a sudden heart arrest which killed him instantly in his sleep."_

_"Teshiko also said that this happens when the person is having a Beta wave on the brain is disturbed when the person was still on stage 4 of sleep and that will interfere the function of the medulla oblangata which controls the cardiac and respiratory rythmicity. That was why people who are having a nightmare experience increase in respiratory and cardiac activity but it rarely resulted to cardiac arrest and then death"_

_"Your son had suffered of what you called the Nightmare syndrome or Sudden unexplained Nocturnal death syndrome ( or SUNDS) but no one had ever survived to tell the tale of their experience,_" _the doctor turn back to the boy. "except now."_

_Uchiha Fugaku digested this in without complaint and allowed the doctor to store this information for him to write in his son's medical files. Fugaku was relieved that the Konoha medics didn't find anything on Itachi's mind that would compromise their plans. Fugaku had a strong feeling that the man had modified his son's mind before giving Itachi back to him. Fugaku also noticed that Itachi's tongue was whole again and Fugaku only wondered more if the man that he had met 6 years ago was planning this all along since the day that he had met him._

_Fugaku was very glad that Itachi was alive but it still bugged him of how Itachi came to life when he was sure that Itachi was dead after confirming it with his sharingan. Fugaku also know that the Hokage also notice that Itachi was already dead even by the time the Hokage had had sent an Anbu to bring Itachi to the Hospital._

_How did Itachi do it? _

_Fugaku bet that the man was involve of Itachi's sudden coming back from the dead._

_But this was not the time to dwell in this matters. Fugaku had to talk to the Hokage first. The doctor had given him a good source for Itachi's current condition and Fugaku was going to pull his tramp card and dangle his bait for the Hokage to eat._

_Fugaku was sure that the Hokage would swallow the lie that he would concoct like the old and good man that he was._ _Fugaku would make sure that Itachi's future would be as what the man had wanted. _

_This was after all his destiny..._

**_Destiny that was written in blood since the day he was born an Uchiha._**

_Fugaku mentally smiled as he walked away from the emergency room and towards Mikoto's room where the Hokage was waiting._

_He would use the Doctor's findings of Itachi's sudden 'death'. Fugaku would now have the upper hand. _

_Fugaku had never thought that Itachi would bit his tongue just to escape the genjtsu...but now that he had. Fuguka was glad that he did it... because it would trigger the Hokage's sympathy after Fugaku was done feeding him with lies._

**_Lies that would solidify Itachi's faith..._**

* * *

_"My son had been traumatized by the war that had happen two years ago and had suffered nightmares since then." _

_"One of the reason why he did not want to become a shinobi because he was afraid that he would end up like the fallen men that he had witnessed during he war,"_

_"The attack of the kyuubi 4 moths ago had triggered the memories of the war. He started eating less and less food after we move into the Uchiha Compound and had completely stopped training with me. It was three days ago when he had locked himself in his had tried to convince him to get out of his room where he had place a high level barrier that he must have gotten from the books that he had read. We tried ways to forced him out from his room but Itachi remain stubborn until the third day arrived. We began noticing that the barrier he had placed was slowly weakening as the days passed and had finally broken entered his room and found him lying cold on the floor. My wife was shocked and had screamed, waking up all the living inhabitants of the Uchiha Compound_. _I placed the barrier around the house to prevent them from ever finding out the state Itachi was in. I am ashamed to admit that at the back of my mind, I did not want our name besmirch by Itachi's act." _

**_--Truth and lies combine to sway the feelings of one man._**

_Fugaku's words had affected the Hokage dearly and soon after that, the Hokage had carefully watched the fragile boy, afraid that Itachi would break again._

* * *

**_It was the root of all lies that his father had concocted to hide the clan's secret._**

**_Secrets of his cruelty to his son and his plans of betrayal to Konoha,_**

**_secrets that would lead to the mysterious man who hid behind his shadows._**

**_The man with a thirst for vengeance..._**

* * *

_Fugaku had explained to his relatives about Itachi's sudden disappearance was due to the fact that Itachi was confined in the private ward because of his vegetative state. Fugaku had told them that Itachi was under a coma after the psychiatric doctor had confirmed Itachi's mental state. Itachi was immediately admitted to the psychiatrist ward with a marked on his medical files as a PTSD patient cause by the effects from surviving the nightmare syndrome. He was being studied by the psychiatrist and the effects of the nightmare syndrome or SUNDS that had affected his brain._

_The psychiatrist had connected Itachi's depersonalized behavior and other observations to the nightmare syndrome. Not really knowing that Fugaku was the one who initiated those 'nightmares' before Itachi's submission to the emergency room. _

_It was on December 19, 1994 when Itachi was released from the psychiatric ward .The Hokage had specifically ordered the Psychiatric nins, who handle Itachi's medical care, to keep Itachi's admission a 's plans was already set into motion when Itachi had entered the academy, a week after his released from the psychiatric ward._

_Fugaku had dangled his bait in front of the Hokage and The Hokage had devoured it Fugaku could not convince his son to become a shinobi, the Hokage surely could._

_And sure enough, the Hokage had taken the first bite._

_The first day of school, the Hokage had talked to the boy and had shown him the true meaning of becoming a Shinobi. Itachi was at the school garden when the Hokage had found him there. _

_The Sakura tree had already lost all of it blossoms with the winter season reaching its peak but a single blossom had stood steadfast gaining the attention from the silent Itachi. Itachi was staring at its beauty with fascination when the Hokage had appeared beside him. Itachi was silent and did not acknowledge the presence of the Hokage. Not until,Itachi's curiosity had gotten better of him and had spoken the words that had been bugging him since he had entered the Academy. His teacher had asked them to introduce themselves by stating his name, age and the reason why they had wanted to become a of his classmate had replied like this._

_"I choose to become a ninja because I want to protect the people I love."_

_or_

_"I want to become a Hokage!"_

_Or for those people with no purpose in life, they had simply said._

_"Because ninjas are cool" while Itachi had said it like this._

_"I am Uchiha Itachi," the girl's by now were drooling all over their chairs as they heard the soft monotone voice of the 'cute' Uchiha Itachi._

_"I'm 6 years old," Itachi continued on as he ignored the glares from the rest of his male classmates._

_"--and I choose to become a ninja because--" Itachi halted before continuing"--because I like to wear my own forehead protector."_

_"Is that all?" his teacher had asked but Itachi was already sitting in his seat. Itachi could hear the giggles and his name mention among the girls but Itachi pretended that he did not hear them._

_Itachi was still confused of why most of his classmate had chosen to become a ninja because of the sole reason of protecting someone they love._ _His father was a ninja but why did his father trapped him in the genjutsu? Why did he take him from the evacuation site and exposed him to the war that had left a scar in his fragile mind? Why? Is it what they call love? Did his father do it because he wanted to protect him?_

_Itachi wanted to know and Itachi asked the question that would change his life forever._

_"Hokage-sama," Itachi said in soft and small voice as he stared at the small flower above his head. "Why do Ninja's protect their Village?"_

_The Hokage looked at the boy and smiled at him._

_"The Ninja's are created, Itachi not for the purpose of war but for the purpose of peace."The hokage said as he watched the snowflakes fall from the white sky above them._

_" Ninjas hold their weapons as the sign of their love and loyalty to the Village and not the sign of creating destruction and death to all. Without us, there will be no one to protect the Village and there will be no one to protect the innocent"_

_"The hope of the people rest upon our shoulders, Itachi. They had put their lives into our hands... and as a Ninja we had to protect them with our own." Itachi looked up at the Hokage and listened to his words of wisdom._

_"The people within this Village, Itachi is like a flower... fragile and beautiful. They hold the Village together. Make it a better place to live in... a place where you can find peace and unity"_

_"If I take a petal from this flower..."the hokage took the single sakura blossom from the ice covered branch as he took a pink petal from its 's eyes looked at the sakura blossom and had mentally sighed in sadness as the petal fell to the snow covered ground._

_"... the flower would look incomplete and it would slowly die and wither. Like what would happen if the Village is brought to war. Lives would be lost and the Village would slowly crumble...but the beauty of it, Itachi is that we don't lost like the flower...even though it had already withered and died, the scent of the flower does not fade away because it would be forever be remembered by us "_

_Itachi stared at the flower and remembered its beauty when he had gazed at it in her icy perched earlier. He could still smell the lingering scent of its fragrance as the cold wind had carried its scent to him._

_"Many Ninjas had died protecting their Village. They died a hero's had died with honor. Their lives was not wasted because they would be forever remembered by everyone. It may not be his name or face that the people would remember... but the people would surely remember what he had done for the Village. "_

_"Ninjas are not expendable as you have thought, Itachi. Ninjas are place in a highest regard by everyone because we are valuable people. We, Ninjas are heroes of this Village and the hope for everyone. Many children would look up to us and would follow our footsteps to become a Ninja...a shinobi... a kunoichi...and a hero. They would become the new generation of hero's and the new hope for everyone. This is the only way that keeps the people hoping...hoping for peace within this Village."_

_"That is why you have to be proud that you have chosen this path, Itachi. Be proud that you had chosen the Shinobi path,"_

_"A path where heroes journey."_

_The Hokage had spoken to him for about 10 minutes but within that 10 minutes. Fugaku's plans were set into motion._

**_Itachi was on his way to fulfilling his destiny..._**

* * *

But Fugaku will soon realize that choosing Itachi as their spy was a fatal mistake...

The day that Itachi had set foot in the academy was also the day that Fugaku had handed the future of the Clan to Itachi...

And Fugaku was right...

Itachi was the one who sealed the Clan's future... with just a slice of his katana, annihilating the Uchiha Clan in one night, but not without the help of Uchiha Madara.

Itachi's first meeting with the immortal was not pure coincidence and Itachi had felt it since the day that he had met him.

Uchiha Madara was planning something when he and Itachi had crossed paths but Itachi did not realized that it involve him and his little brother.

--

Itachi had left the Village with the belief that he had protected his brother and his beloved Village.

As he disappeared through the night with Uchiha Madara, it had marked the day of his slow descent to the world of the unwanted and untouchable, finally joining the Akatsuki Organization with sole purpose of protecting his brother and his Village, and all the while waiting for his brother and the death that surely awaits him.

* * *

**Present**

"Your eyes belong to me now..."Itachi said as he looked at his brother across from him.

"I'll take them slowly..." Itachi said as in between gasp of breaths he took. "I want to savor this". His throat clogging with blood as he tried to breath, Itachi's eyes suddenly widen as his heart throbbed in pain. Itachi throw up a mouthful of blood into his left hand.

"_Whoa!What--_" the white side of Zetsu thought in shocked.

"**_Is something wrong with him_**?" the black side asked as they both watched as Itachi fell into his knees, coughing out another mouthful of blood.

Itachi's Susano'o faltered as Itachi's body was weakening. Sasuke took this opportunity to attack, throwing a kunai in Itachi's direction with an exploding tag attach to it.

The exploding tag exploded near Itachi and Sasuke huffed in exhaustion as he waited for the dust and smoke to clear. Sasuke immediately tense when he saw Itachi was still standing with his Susano'o behind him.

Zetsu gulped as he stared at the bowed form of Itachi.

Itachi raised his head and glared at his brother.

"Shi--" Sasuke twitch as Itachi began to walk towards him.

Sasuke readied himself for another attack, bending down as he withdraws a scroll from his loose purple pants.

Sasuke shouted as he threw the exploding tags attached to a single kunai at Itachi.

Itachi used his Susano'o to shield him from the explosion, his body becoming tired as he controlled the movement of his eye technique.

Sasuke stared at his older brother behind the huge arm of the spectral figure that was shielding his brother.

"_This 'Susano'o' technique,_" the white side of Zetsu thought as he watched Itachi slowly walked to his brother. _"It's shield's reflecting all of Sasuke's attacks!"_

**"That's another supernatural item...I'm sure of it"** the black side of Zetsu said.**"It's called Yata's mirror...a shield that can turn back any attack and combined with the sword of totsuka for offense..."**

**"He's...completely invincible." **

Itachi slump as his body protested from his efforts to keep himself standing. Itachi had already reached his limits but he was determined to fulfill the plans that he had set for. He has to hurry up before his time would run out.

Itachi raised his hands in Sasuke's direction.

"My eyes..." Itachi said his mouth barely moving as he looked at Sasuke. "My..."

The words fueling Sasuke's wrath and his thirst for vengeance as he grabbed his katana and jumped towards Itachi.

"DIE!" Sasuke shouted as he descended into the ground with his katana aiming for Itachi.

Itachi's Yata's mirror deflected Sasuke's attack. Sasuke's sword flew from his grasp as he was thrown back by an invisible force. Sasuke landed on the ground, gasping for breath.

Suddenly, Itachi was two feet away from him and Sasuke desperately crawled away from his brother. Sasuke slowly stood up as Itachi raised his bloody fingers towards him. Sasuke froze and stepped back but he encountered a wall with the Uchiha Clan symbol on it.

"A wall...!"Sasuke thought as he return his attention back to his older's heart beat faster as his brother came to a complete halt in front of him. Sasuke watched Itachi's bloody hands dripped with his blood as it came near to his face.

Sasuke shuffled on his feet as his stood there with fear in his eyes. Itachi's fingers were already an inch away from Sasuke's eyes when Itachi suddenly smiled after saying something to him.

Sasuke's eyes were wide as Itachi's fingers was a hairs breath away from his eyes and Sasuke's heart was beating loudly in his ears.

**POKE**

Itachi poke Sasuke's temple before his fingers slide down to Sasuke's right cheek, leaving a trail of blood on Sasuke's face. Itachi hit his forehead on the wall before falling into his knees and collapsing on the ground.

(**_Spoiler Warning:_** Chapter 393)

Sasuke stood there, his heart beat was still erratic and his breaths were uneven. The body of his older brother lay at his feet, unmoving. The black fire of Amaterasu was still burning around the Uchiha Clan Hideout while Sasuke leaned on the wall gasping for breath.

"_Itachi passed out...?_" the white side of Zetsu asked in thought as they stared at Itachi's unmoving body 15 yards away from them."_N..No...Way"_

"**_You don't think..." _**Zetsu's black side began.

"**_Itachi's dead?!_**"

--

Drop

Drop

Drop

The clouds thundered above them as the skies open up, and mourned over the child that had lost his innocence when was but at a tender age of four.

The Heavens poured their tears over the death of a secret hero.

Uchiha Sasuke stared at his older brother on the ground; the rain pouring down on them. The lightning flashed in the skies as Sasuke smiled in victory before falling in dead faint on the ground, beside his older brother.

* * *

(**_Spoiler Warning_**: Chapter 395)

Uchiha Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling inside a cave.

"I gave you some first aid." a voice said through the darkness and Sasuke sat up from the futon on the floor to look around him.

"You won," the voice continued. "It was very close, though...you're still badly wounded."

"You shouldn't be so reckless with your life," the voice said from the darkness.

"We've met once before..."A man suddenly appeared garbed in black clothes and a orange mask.

"As enemies," the man said.

"Don't worry about what happened to Deidara," the man assured the silent boy "I'm no longer your foe."

Sasuke merely stared at him in a silent question.

"I brought you here to tell you something important." the man began but Sasuke still remained uninterested.

"Not interested I see," the man said as he surveyed the blank expression on Sasuke's face.

"Maybe you'll pay attention if I say it like this..."

"It's about **Uchiha Itachi.**"

Sasuke look at the man from the corner of his eyes at the mention of Itachi's name.

"There we go..."the man said suddenly realizing that he had catch Sasuke's attention.

"You know so much about your brother, and at the same time, you know nothing."

Sasuke just looked at him from the corner of his eyes as the man reached for his mask.

"All right," the man began as he slowly take off his orange mask. "Why don't I start by introducing myself..."

"Much like yourself..." the man slipped the mask off from his face "I'm a living, breathing Uchiha..."

Sasuke watched as he slowly revealed his left sharingan.

**"And the man who knows the truth about Uchiha Itachi," **red eyes glared at Sasuke while his eyes widen in shocked.

* * *

"Sorry Sasuke. There won't be a next time." Itachi said a small smile gracing his lips as he poked Sasuke's forehead, and then collapsing onto the ground, unmoving.

--

"From now on, we will call ourselves as Team Hawk." Sasuke said to Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu while he stood over the rock where the ocean waves crushed at his feet. "And our new goal is to kill the people who ordered my brother for the clan's annihilation and to destroy Konoha."

* * *

A tall figure entered a room and walked towards the huge tank was placed. The tank glowed blue as the tall man gazed inside. He watches the unmoving figure inside it and move towards the back where he could clearly see the face.

Long raven black hair floated around the blue waters as the figure inside the tank curved into a fetal position. His pale and muscled arms hugging his upper torso while his knees where brought back to his strong chiseled chest; tubes where attached to his body while he floated into the still water. A mask was covering his masculine mouth and his aristocratic nose, providing him to breathe.

The tall figure who stood near the tank gazed at the unmoving figure, thin lips forming into a smile as he touched the cold glass of the tank.

"Your brother has proven himself as powerful as you are." the man said as he caressed the cold glass "He had successfully captured the 8 tailed jinchuuriki with the use of his new Mangekyo Sharingan."

"It would not be long before his eyes would deteriorate like yours did," the man took his hands away from the glass.

"But I won't let that happen," the man assured. "both of you are still a part of my plans," the man said as he walked away from the tank and towards the door.

**_"Plans that I had made since the day you were both born an Uchiha."_**

* * *

**_1 and half years later..._**

Footsteps echoing along the empty corridors as a slim figure run towards the direction of her other team mates. The corridor was silent and cold, as the figure passed the empty doorways. It was dark but she had used her chakra to enhance her eyes so that she can see through the dark.

Emerald eyes flickered through the corridors as the figure breath was even and her heart was beating fast after Hinata had reported that they had found something interesting. The adrenaline surged through her veins as Sakura towards the location of her team.

There was a static on her earpiece before Hinata's voice entered from the other line.

"Sakura" Hinata said urgently "You better hurry. We are running out of time and we have to leave this place before the whole building blows up"

Sakura pressed the talk button and spoke through the small microphone.

"Hai, Hinata." Sakura said following Hinata's chakra trail that leads her to their location."I'm almost there."

"Shino and Kiba are already here." Hinata spoke from the other line "We already deactivated the traps that they had set surrounding the room."

"No one is injured?" Sakura asked in concern.

"No," Hinata answered "We're alright."

Sakura sighed with relief as she turns to the right, her emerald eyes glowing in the darkness. Sakura pressed the talk button before asking.

"How much time do we have left, Hinata?"

"10 minutes," Hinata answered.

"Then we have to leave here..." Sakura replied "before the exploding tags are activated."

Sakura was silent for a moment.

"Anou..." Hinata hesitated. "Sakura..."

"Yes, Hinata?" Sakura other line was silent before Hinata spoke again.

"Kiba-kun said that he...um..." Hinata began. "He um...accidentally..."

Sakura suddenly felt the foreboding feeling this mission was going to be a disaster.

"...set the time for the exploding tags to activate at 5 minutes"

Sakura was silent before exploding.

"WHAT?!" Sakura shouted and increase her speed. Sakura run like her life depended on actually she was since she just heard the news that the building was going to blow up within 5 minutes but since Kiba had set the tags 2 minutes only have 3 minutes left before the building turn into a living inferno.

"Hinata..."Sakura tried breath calmly as she addressed her team mate. "Did I just hear you said that the Kiba accidentally set the tags at 5 minutes?"

"Hai," Hinata answered weakly from the other line.

The vein in Sakura's head throbs as she tried to breathe calmly. She was going to kill her Shishou for giving her this mission and for assigning her as the team leader. Sakura should have stayed at the Hospital where she had spent her working there for the passed 8 months.

After her encounter with Sasuke in her last mission together with her sensei, Sakura had vowed that she would never accept missions again. It had been 8 months ago when Sakura had acccidentally met Sasuke and his Akatsuki partner Suigetsu. Sakura and her sensei were sent on a B-rank mission where they would secure a contract between Konoha and the Country of Birds.

War was brewing between Akatsuki and their allies and Konoha. Her shishou, the current Hokage was trying to make other contract from other countries to fight against the increasing number of Akatsuki's allies. Hatake Kakashi and Sakura was sent to the Country of Birds to secure another contract when they had encountered the new official members of Akatsuki.

They had fought and when Sasuke was about to give the fatal blow to Sakura. Her sensei was there to save her but not before taking full blow of Sasuke's attack. Her sensei was critically wounded and Sakura was already out of chakra. Sakura was almost at her wits end as she held her dying sensei in her arms. Sakura had blamed herself for her sensei's state and had cried all over him while his life hang in a thread.

She have to thank that their new gain allies from the bird country had arrive on time. Kakashi was given immediate care but he was still on critical condtion. Sakura had waited for what seems like hours for her chakra supplies to become full. Sakura had healed her sensei immediately and had apologized to him for freezing like that when Sasuke had tried to kill her.

Sakura could never forget the look on his eyes when he had directed his Mangekyo Sharingan at her. After 1 and half years with the Akatsuki, Sasuke had turn into a being who lived in hatred and vengeance.

Sakura could still remember Sasuke's eyes when he had appeared in front of her to give the fatal blow.

Sasuke's eyes were filled with hatred as she stared at him. The image of him was forever imprinted in her mind as Sasuke had seen her as the part of the Village who had forced his older brother to kill the Uchiha Clan and blame them for Itachi's death.

Sakura turned to the right as she continued to run to her team's direction.

Sakura was assigned...no forced to do this mission by her Shishou after her friends and her Shishou had noticed that she was over working herself at the Hospital. Her Shishou had ordered Sakura to take a break from the Hospital and had assigned her into this B-rank mission. Sakura had wondered why her Shishou had asked her to take a break and then assigned her to take a mission. Sakura had blamed it on the sake that she had found under Tsunade's desk the following morning. Her shishou was having a hang over so Shizune was the one who informed her and Team 8 about their mission.

It was a B-rank mission.A Stealth infiltration on a Akatsuki hideout located at the Country of Spring. The informant was a civilian in his mid-thirties and had suddenly disappeared after informing the chuunin guards at the Konoha entrance. The man's disappearance was suspicious that lead the Hokage to believe that this was a trap but the Hokage took chance and had sent them out here to find out the truth.

Team 8 had arrived at the location without encountering anyone and Inuzuka Kiba had been complaining since they had left, telling everyone that this was just a waste of time while Sakura had totally ignored him like Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata was doing. They had entered the building and were surprised that there were no traps, making them wonder if this was really the Akatsuki hideout. Sakura had ordered them to search the entire building separately. Hinata went to the west side while Kiba went to the East. Shino went to the North direction while Sakura took the South and had planned to meet at the entrance within 10 minutes if they didn't encounter anyone.

Shizune had told them to destroy the building after their stealth infiltration. No matter if the the building belongs to the Akatsuki or not. So Sakura had asked Kiba to set the exploding tags before he had left int the east direction. Akamaru's skill to detect different kind of scents had increase for the passed years that Akamaru could easily to detect the weak spot of the building, making it collapsed with just the used of 2-3 exploding tags. That was why Sakura had chosen Kiba to place the exploding tags earlier, but now...Sakura regretted her decision.

"Hinata," Sakura said as she had calmed down from her eruption voice becoming serious as she ordered "We will leave here within 3 minutes."

"Hai," Hinata squeaked from the other line.

"Have you found out what's inside that room?" Sakura asked with sheen of perspiration began to bead on her forehead. Sakura was on her way to the entrance earlier when Hinata had reported to her and her other team mates that she had found a high level genjutsu in the west wing where Sakura had ordered her to go. Shino and Kiba had instantly found Hinata before Sakura could because she doesn't have bugs to use a tracking device to her team mate or a dog who can detect an enemy a mile radius from here. So Sakura had been lost in the maze of corridors when she had tried to reach her team mates location. Sakura was lucky that she had found a faint trail of Hinata's chakra in one of the corridors and had followed it.

"Hai," Sakura almost missed Hinata's answer as she was busy recalling what had happen earlier.

"Tell me what you see." Sakura ordered gently.

"We're in a room that has a huge glass tank at the center with a blue glow emitting from it," Hinata describe.

"What's inside the tank, Hinata?" Sakura asked as her red shirt began to clinging to her like a second skin. Sakura suddenly felt like she had been running in circles when she still could not locate her team mates.

"I couldn't see inside it," Hinata suddenly answered "My byakugan could not penetrate through the glass."

"There must be some kind of barrier surrounding the tank." Hinata added before she became silent.

"Hinata," Sakura said "Tell Kiba and Shino to break the barrier by combining both their attacks."

"Shino and Kiba had tried to break through it earlier but the glass wouldn't budge." Hinata replied. "It seems there kekei genkai won't work on it too."

Sakura was silent for a moment before saying again.

"Have you tried using exploding tags?" Sakura asked.

"Yes but it too was fruitless," Hinata immediately answered "The exploding tags deactivated before they could hit the glass and explode."

"How about your other ninja weapons?" Sakura asked her frustration showing in her voice.

"The glass repelled it before they could touch the surface of the glass." Hinata waited for Sakura to react to the news.

Sakura's pink brows were furrowed in thought as she followed the faint trails where her team mate had left behind.

"Hinata," Sakura began "How many minutes do we have left?"

The other line was silent before Hinata's voice broke through it again.

"2 minutes," Hinata finally replied.

Sakura stopped running and stared at the darkness with glowing green eyes.

"Hinata," Sakura's voice became serious as she addressed her friend on the other line.

"I want you to bring Shino and Kiba with you and leave this building now."

"But Sakura," Hinata began, her voice showing surprise "--How about you?"

"I'll meet you outside" Sakura said as she started running again. "Just leave the building before it exploded"

"We're staying here, Sakura." Hinata said stubbornly from the other line "We can't just leave you here."

"Who said that I will be staying here?" Sakura snapped through the microphone "Don't be over dramatic, Hinata. Now do as I say and leave this building."

"We can't just leave you like this, Sakura." Hinata protested "We will be waiting for you here and--"

"Hinata," Sakura interfere before she could finish, her voice softening "I understand what you're trying to say but I will not be staying here, Hinata. I'm finding my way to the exit right now so I advice you to do the same thing."

"Oh," Hinata mumbled "Gomenasai, Sakura. I tho-thought that--"

"It's alright, Hinata." Sakura assured her "And I'm sorry too for snapping at you like that. You should understand that I'm angry at myself for not getting there immediately."

"But now that we have 2 minutes left to escape the building. I want you to tell Kiba and Shino that we'll be meeting at the entrance within 2 minutes, understand?" Sakura ordered.

"Hai," Hinata answered.

"And Hinata?" Sakura started "What happen to the other earpieces that I gave to Shino and Kiba?"

"Ummmm..." Hinata hesitated before answering. "They were damaged when we were deactivating the traps earlier. Kiba-kun's earpiece got burnt while Shino's earpiece was accidentally crushed by Akamaru's huge paws"

Sakura sighed and said to Hinata.

"Just tell them that we will be meeting at the entrance, okay?"

"Hai," Hinata said immediately.

"I'll see you later then." Sakura said.

"Hai," Hinata replied before the other line went dead.

Sakura pulled the earpiece from her head and placed it in her weapon pouch, still following Hinata's trail.

"_I'm sorry for lying to you, Hinata_" Sakura thought as she run. "_But I have to find out what's inside that tank_"

"_It might be an important object to the Akatsuki for all we know_ _and I won't allow it to be destroyed before I could find out._"

* * *

**_Sakura run towards her goal, never knowing what lays ahead..._**

**_and never knowing that beyond that closed door..._**

**_Her destiny was waiting for her..._**

* * *

_Black eyes blink before slowly opening them wide. Eyes turning ruby as they stared through the still water and beyond._

* * *

_Sakura strode through the open doorway, where she felt the faint traces of her team mates chakra. Hinata and the others had already left, and Sakura was determine to see this mission to the end. _

_She was going to leave this building after she had satisfied her curiosity._

--

_Sakura halted in front of the tank and stared inside the glass._

* * *

**_They stared at each other through the thick blue ice that separated them._**

* * *

_Sakura reach to touch the glass with her glove hands, expecting to meet a barrier but there wasn't; instead it was welcoming her caressed._

* * *

_Pale masculine hands reach out, the blue glowing water stirred around him as his finger tips touch the surface of the blue ice._

* * *

**_Both could not see each other, but both could not deny the feeling of the existence of one another._**

--

**_Slowly...very slowly...they withdrew their hands simultaneously as they __waited for something to happen._**

* * *

_Sakura balled her hand into a tight fist as she summoned her chakra in her left hand. Sakura crouched down and readied herself._

* * *

_The glowing blue ice began to break around him as his eyes locked on the shadowy figure._

* * *

_Sakura watched slowly as the glass tank cracked from the force of her punch. Blue liquid began to pour out from the cracks as the tank slowly broke._

--

_The tank suddenly burst open and the blue liquid flooded the room, washing a surprised kunoichi. _

_Sakura sat up as the rest of the of the blue liquid ebbed and went out from the room. She combed her hands through her tangled wet locks when she suddenly felt like she was being watched._

* * *

Sakura reacted immediately as she heard a sound coming from behind her. Her hands flew to her kunai pouch but froze when she caught sight of the tall figure rising from the glowing blue water at the center of the room where one-third of the tank was left intact.

Pale skin gleaming as drops of glowing water cascaded down his aristocratic features to his chiseled chest. Raven black hair clung to his broad shoulders and neck as he stood there like a God with all his naked glory.

Ruby eyes met Emerald and Sakura gazed at him in shocked, her mouth half open. Her lips barely moving as she whispered his name.

**_"Uchiha--" _**

The walls suddenly exploded around them as Sakura's 2 minutes deadline was finally over. The ceiling above them began to crumble as the fire consume the building,creating a living inferno.

The two figures stood gazing at each other.

while Sakura finally finished his name.

"**_--Itachi_**"

**_To be continued..._**

* * *

**_R&R please...please...please..._**

If you want to know more about the Nightmare Syndrome or SUNDS. Just go to my profile and click the link saying 'Nightmare syndrome' and 'SUNDS'

If you are confused about this story you can asked me.

This would be the final chapter that I will be writing about Itachi's life. I will be starting the romance that I had intended to do since the beginning.

Just so you know that this would be Rated M in the near future.

So again if you are confused with this story, you can ask me anytime. I totally screwed this chapter. I couldn't even remember what I had written on this story.

It would take me another week to write the next chapter. So I asked you to be patient because I'm really busy right now.

**_Thanks for the reviews: tokiwasan, Susano'967, Gobi5noHouko,shaude and Cherry-Blossom-Sakura08_**

Your reviews had really helped me in continuing with this story.


	5. A Ruby eyed pervert

--

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto…

_-_**--**

"**Bold" Black side of Zetsu**

"Normal" white side of Zetsu

"**_Italics" Thoughts_**

--

**The Shinobi Path**

**Adventure/ Romance/ Drama**

**Rated M**

**Itachi/Sakura**

**Chapter 5**

--

A candle flickering through the dim lighted room as the figure flipped his gloved hands through the pages of a black book. The silence of the room was broken when something appeared from the ground, revealing a black and white figure of a man. His body was covered by a green cocoon that looks like a giant fly-trap. The man on the desk stilled his hands as he waited for the new comer to state the current status of their target.

"**They have arrived,**" The black side reported, his voice low and hoarse as he addressed the man sitting behind the oak desk.

The man with the swirling orange mask turned towards the man on the floor, a single eye showing through one of the eyehole of his mask. Red eyes glowing as he directed his piercing eyes to the man.

"What time have they entered the facility?" the man questioned.

"**18 minutes ago,**" the black side replied.

"Who's with her?" The man asked in a low a voice, his eyes never leaving the man half buried on the cold floor.

"A Hyuuga, Aburame and one from the Inuzuka Clan." The white side joined his half in reporting as his single yellow eye met the gaze of the man behind the orange mask.

The man with the orange mask nodded his head, his eyes thoughtful for a moment before changing into a calculated look.

"Have they sent the right medic?" The mask man asked.

"**Hai,**" The black side said, his voice rumbling deeply. **"It was her."**

The mask man became silent before he spoke again.

"Good," The mask man said simply, the lips beneath the mask forming a ghost of a smile after hearing the information. "Let's just wait what happen next then."

Red eyes glowed as the voice rang with expectancy and…….was it anticipation?

* * *

Sakura ran fast; her time was running out. She has 1 and half minutes to go before the exploding tags will activate. Sakura was nearing the location where her team mates had been and she followed their chakra trails that lead her to the room. Sakura ran as fast as she could, while she drew nearer to the location of her comrades.

Sakura felt something was calling for her ever since she had stepped inside the building, Sakura felt like she was supposed to be there. Like someone was waiting for her……

Sakura's breath became a gasp as she ran faster towards the place that had sparked her sudden curiosity. Sakura was drawn to something inside that room and she was going to find out what. It might be a weapon the Akatsuki was hiding or it might be something else. Sakura didn't care; all she wants was to see was what that room was hiding. Sakura had made it her personal mission to find out what's inside that room; she wanted to know what was inside the tank.

Sakura felt the rush of excitement as she finally turned the last corridor where she saw the open door way from across the hall. Sakura ran, her long legs consuming the floor as the feeling of anticipation and excitement increased ten fold as she saw the blue light emitting from the open door. Sakura's enhanced eyes glowed through the darkness of the underground corridors as her eyes were directed to one single object a distance away from her. Her footsteps echoing through the dank and dark corridor as she finally neared her goal.

* * *

Hands blurred as they formed a complicated hand seals and suddenly stopped as a blue glow appear from the hands.

A voice broke the silence of the room as a man terminated the last of his jutsu with one last dragon seal.

"Released," The voice said softly as his hands glowed blue, red eyes burned bright through the blue glow surrounding the room. The blue light exploded from his hands and shot towards the tank. The tank sparked as the blue light hit it before slowly forming into currents of blue electricity as they flowed around an invisible barrier. The light slowly faded and the barrier disintegrated along with the blue current .The mask man inside the room let his hands fall to the side as he stared at the huge tank in front of him.

"This is the time you woke up and face your future." the man spoke quietly as his eyes penetrated through the tank and the thick ice inside, to stare at the suspended figure in the blue water.

The man moved when he heard the sound of running footsteps from the distance. His head turn to the direction of the sound and stared at the approaching figure.

The man suddenly smiled beneath the mask as he gazed at the pink haired kunoichi who hadn't notice him. His chakra was concealed so thoroughly that even a small ant could not detect his presence. The man turned towards the tank and spoke through his mind.

"_I will leave this to you,_" The masked man thought. "_Your connection to her would be enough to set our plans into motion."_

A black hole suddenly appeared beside the man and he slowly inched towards it.

"_Make sure to place the seal on her before anything untoward happens."_ The mask man finally instructed before stepping inside the black hole.

"_It will ensure the loyalty that she will have on us._"

The man disappeared into the black hole as the running footsteps finally stopped at the entrance of the room. Green eyes transfixed on the object at the center of the room.

Coal black eyes slowly opened to stare at the blue ice surrounding him. Small bubbles appeared from the transparent mask that holds his mouth and nose in place. The man breathed through the mask as he open his limbs from the fetal position that he had been in. The blue water shifted around him as he stretched his hands to his side, his long black hair gliding through the watery surface.

The man stilled to stare in front of him, eyed turning ruby as the presence neared the tank.

* * *

Sakura strode with purpose towards the huge tank at the center of the room, each step she took was making her heart leap with excitement and something else that she couldn't comprehend.

Her heart was beating fast when she finally came to a complete halt in front of the tank. The tank was 10 feet tall and a circumference was big enough to fit Chouji when he was using his kekei genkai. Sakura surveyed the tank which was emitting a soft blue glow, increasing Sakura's curiosity.

Sakura touched the surface of the glass through her brown gloved hand, expecting to find the barrier Hinata had reported earlier. Sakura suddenly remembered her friends who she had sent to leave the building before it exploded, making Sakura realized that she was wasting precious seconds by just standing there.

Sakura was about to withdraw her hands from the tank when she suddenly felt a tingling sensation in her hands. Sakura paused, her hands still touching the surface of the tank when she felt the sensation again. It felt like someone was caressing her hands.

Sakura let her hands slide downwards on the surface of the glass and the sensation followed her.

He followed the sensation, pale hands sliding downwards against the blue ice in front of him. Red eyes never leaving his hand as he slowly traced the sensation through the ice and glass wall that separated him from the outside world. Pale hands paused on the frozen ice before finally withdrawing it, the sensation diminishing from his fingertips.

Pale hand retracted from the icy surface as the sensation disappear replace by the feeling of sudden expectancy. Red eyes stared at the ice in front of him and waited.

Sakura felt the sudden rush of determination as the remaining seconds tick by before the dead line. Sakura was going to find out what was inside the tank before she could leave the building. Sakura would satisfy her curiosity in a matter of seconds before the building exploded.

Sakura drew her chakra into her right fist as she crouched down and readied herself for one huge chakra punch. After Sakura was sure that she had drawn enough chakra into her right hand. Sakura raised her right fist and punched the glass tank. The glass cracked beneath the force of her punch and Sakura withdrew her hands immediately as the cracks spread across the glassy surface of the tank.

Blue liquid began to pour out from the cracks but Sakura hadn't notice this since her eyes were locked on the shadowy object inside the tank. The crack slowly revealed the object behind the thick blue ice inside the tank. The ice and glass made an ominous sound before the water burst out from the tank, the pressure of the water broke through the glass and ice and came rushing to meet a very shocked kunoichi.

Sakura's eyes had been so caught up with the shadowy object inside the tank that she hadn't been prepared for the sudden impact from the water as the tank broke apart. Sakura was swept by the wave of the icy cold water as it went outside the open doorway. Sakura summoned chakra to her feet and jumped over the rushing water, already dripping wet and shivering from the icy temperature of the water. Sakura waited for the water to ebb from the room, her small form shivering from the cold.

Sakura fell onto her knees on the ebbing water as she hugged herself, looking like a drown cat. Her teeth were clenched as she tried to stop the sudden burst of constricting muscles to provide heat on her entire body. Her wet clothes were clinging to her like a second skin and the coldness of the cloth made Sakura want to discard it. The bandages that bind her upper torso was also soaked and had slightly loosened around her chest area and abdomen.

Sakura rubbed her arms with her gloved hands to stimulate blood circulation and at the same time generate heat from the friction. Sakura stopped rubbing her arms when she was sure that her blood flow had reached into her upper and lower extremities. Sakura raised her gloved hand to sweep away the stray locks that had been clinging to her face.

Sakura slowly stood up from her sprawled position and was busy brushing the tangles on her wet hair when she suddenly froze. Sakura felt like she was being watch and the hair at the back of her neck stood on end. Sakura instinctively reached for a weapon on her kunai pouch which was slung around her waist. Her hand was already at her back when her eyes landed on the man who was staring at her through ruby eyes.

Sakura instantly froze at the sight of the man. Her breathing had stopped and her heart started to beat loudly on her ears as her eyes were locked on a pair of spinning sharigan. The man slowly rose from the blue glowing water, his pale skin glistening and his raven hair clinging to his lean physique. Sakura's eyes never left his face as he stood there like a Greek God in all his naked glory.

One third of the tank was still intact and there was still a decent amount of water inside the tank to cover the man's lower torso.

Sakura's eyes were wide as she stared at the handsome of face of one Uchiha Itachi. He hadn't changed since she had last seen him during Gaara's rescue mission. Although she haven't been that close to take a good look at his face but Sakura could still remember that this man had triggered an ache in Sakura's heart when she had first look at him.

The arched of his cheekbones and his long aristocratic nose was oh-so familiar to her that it made Sakura's heart squeezed painfully. His facial feature, which was a shade darker than her ex-team mate, was more pronounced and had touch of femininity to it. The feminine slant of his eyes and his long thick lashes made him look female but there was nothing female about this man. This man was far more dangerous to even think of him as a female. The pulsing air around her was proof enough that this man wouldn't be as gentle as any female ninja when he fought.

Sakura did not blink as she directly looked into the man's eyes. The time limit was nearing to an end and Sakura had totally forgotten about it as she held the man's eyes in to a staring contest. Sakura's heart constricted as she tried to stop the rush of emotion when the man had suddenly moved. His eyes had shifted through the blue glow around the tank that made Sakura thought of Sasuke.

The shape and color of their eyes was the same when they had used their sharingan but this man was not Uchiha Sasuke. The diagonal lines running down from his eyes to his cheeks were enough to remind Sakura that this was not the boy who had left her 5 years ago. This man was the same man who had massacred the Uchiha Clan and had saved the Village from war in the process. The same man who had joined the Akatsuki Organization to protect the Village from within and the man who loved his brother dearly.

Uchiha Itachi, the secret persona behind the Uchiha Massacre and the man who had been dead for more than a year ago. Well that was what Sakura believe before she found him here….

"Uchiha……." Sakura whispered as she finally realized that this was not a genjutsu. The man before her was really alive and was wearing nothing but his birth suit. Sakura dismissed his nudity without a second thought as she held his dark gaze. His name hanging on her lips when he suddenly moved. The water around his waist stirred as he slowly walked close to the circle of the tank.

Sakura felt the ground shook underneath her feet as the force of the explosion knocked all the weak spot of the building. The ceiling began to crumble and some of the fallen debris hit the remaining glass of the tank, breaking and spilling the last gallons of water from it contents. The man did not move from the debris that fell into the rushing water as it spill out from the broken tank, splashing him with its watery contents.

"Itachi……." The name brought Sakura back to reality as she watched Itachi stepped out from the circle of broken glasses and was striding towards her. The blue glowing water consumed the room with its glittering surface while Sakura stood over it.

The ceiling above them began to cave in and Sakura avoided the falling debris as she began to run. Sakura's hands blurred as she executed a series of hand seals, her eyes never leaving the man who was closing in on her. Sakura had been concentrating on her jutsu so much, that she hadn't noticed that the man was also performing a series of hand seals. Sakura was even oblivious of how the air had suddenly shifted around her, making the room pulsed with a sudden promise. The look that had shot on the man's eyes was lost on Sakura as she continued to clasp her hands into a series of complicated hand seals.

Sakura's jutsu activated as she terminated the jutsu with one final horse sign, the written kanji in her palms and knees glowed as Sakura called her chakra to that region. The walls around them were crumbling down and the fire was slowly consuming the rest of the infrastructure.

The ceiling above them finally fell apart and was coming down on them when Sakura finally reached the man. Sakura did not stop the momentum as she slammed into the man with such forced that they both fell into the ground. Green eyes met red as they lay there on the ground with their bodies almost pressing and their faces a foot apart from each other.

Sakura blinked as a drop of blue water fell on top of her eyelids and slowly slide down her cheeks while the man beneath her watched its progress. The droplet settled on her lower lip and hang there for a moment before falling down. Red and green eyes watched the liquid in slow motion as it fell.

There was another huge explosion and the building finally collapsed.

* * *

"**_SAKURA!!!_**" Hinata, Kiba and even Shino shouted as they gazed at the destroyed building. Smoke and fire was everywhere as it reached the forest that that had been used to cover the old building.

Sakura's team, who had been waiting at the entrance about 1 and half minutes before the entire building had exploded, was currently looking at the building with growing worry and fear. The three exploding tags that they had set earlier had completely deactivated and had destroyed the building in matter of 20 seconds, leaving Sakura no opportunity for escape. The destroyed building had completely buried their friend amongst the ruins but they didn't think negatively. They were all sure that Sakura was still alive down there. Sakura wasn't as reckless to remain behind without a second plan. Hinata was confident of her friends abilities that she knew that Sakura had already made plans before she had told them to leave the building first. Hinata would not give up on her friend; they would continue to look for her until they found her and Hinata just hope that it wouldn't be too late.

"SAKURA!" Hinata called out, her eyes beginning to tear as she looked at the fire that consumed what was left of the building. Hinata's byakuugan was activated as she scanned the area for any sign of her friend's chakra signature. Her eyes passing through smoke and rubles, as she continues to peruse the area for any sign of her friend.

"SAKURA!" Kiba yelled, sniffing the air for the pink haired kunoichi. Akamaru was also doing the same thing while Shino was sending his bugs to search for any traces of their missing team mate.

Team 6 was gone with worry as they continue to excavate the ruins for their pink haired friend.

Kiba began to use his Gazuga technique to drill through the piled stones while Hinata used her byakuugan to look deeply into the ruins. Shino was talking to his bugs quietly when Hinata shouted.

"I found her," Hinata shouted as she stared through the rubles of rocks with her byakuugan. The other two of her team mates run towards her.

"and she seems to be with someone." Hinata absently said as she detected another chakra close….no underneath her friend. Hinata activated the second level of her byakuugan to get a better look at the person.

Hinata instantly turned scarlet as she spattered in shocked.

* * *

Sakura was breathing hard as she supported her weight with her hands and knees which was placed on each side of the man's head and hips.

Sakura's breath became into gasp her arms and legs strained to support the weight of the boulders of rock hitting her chakra barrier. The green barrier was formed to accommodate one person but now that they were two of them. Sakura had extended her chakra to form a spherical barrier to protect both of them from being crushed but Sakura wouldn't last this for long. Each time a huge boulder added weight on top of the barrier, it was slowly draining away her chakra.

Sakura began to heave as her muscles cried out in pain, her eyes staring at the man beneath her. The man was watching her closely, too closely since her face was a mere foot apart from his handsome face. Sakura keep on gasping for breath, her wet clothes dripping over the man but Sakura didn't care. She didn't care what would happen to him if she allowed the chakra barrier to disintegrate above them. She wouldn't care that the man would get crushed when she allowed her chakra barrier to protect only her and not him. She didn't care even a single particle of her body for the unflappable Uchiha beneath her.

NOT.

Okay, she cared about him a little bit. Just a little bit that she could give him a space within her barrier but she wouldn't go to the lengths of allowing him to abused her hospitality which he was currently doing with his eyes. He was giving her one of those blank stares that made Sakura want to strangle him. The Uchiha did not even thank her for saving his hide out there.

Sakura's eyes turned icy as she glared at him. His sharingan was still activated and Sakura met his unnerving stare with her enhance eyes. The man was looking up at her with a blank look on his face and Sakura wanted to slap him for being so irritatingly impassive after saving his sorry ass from getting crushed. Sakura did not dare slap him but merely shoot daggers at him with her eyes. It wasn't that she was afraid of him (which she was….. just a little bit) but it was the fact that Sakura couldn't.

Sakura did not dare moved from her position as she strained her arms to keep her palms and knees on the kanji written on the ground. The chakra barrier was like the Kuchiyose no jutsu but Sakura had to summon her chakra instead of a slug or toad. The kanji had appeared after Sakura had placed her palms and knees on the ground. The kanji had spread like currents of electricity to form a spherical cluster of kanji.

The kanji was there to enable Sakura to have a steady hold on the barrier. So if Sakura made a moved to even slap the blank look on the Uchiha's face beneath her. The barrier above them would disappear and they would be crushed by the huge boulders above them.

She didn't know why she had saved this man's life. She already knew that this man beneath her was one of the good guys but Sakura hadn't forgiven him for manipulating Sasuke in to seeking revenge for his family and even less when he had lied to Sasuke about the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre. Sasuke wouldn't be out there wearing the Akatsuki cloak the same as his older brother did if Itachi hadn't just told him the truth.

What would be the outcome if Itachi just told Sasuke the truth? Sakura would never know.

This man beneath her had changed the lives of many in a span of one night and Sakura could see the effects of his action by staring at the oncoming war between the new forces of Akatsuki and their home village. It would be soon before the shinobi world would be thrown into chaos again.

Uchiha Sasuke was out there somewhere, plotting his next move to destroy Konoha. Sasuke had never given up his revenge for his clan and his thought-to-be-dead older brother who was lying beneath her. Sasuke would be shocked if he saw them in that situation, with them being wet and all but let's not forgot to add the detail of Sakura lying on top of a very alive and naked Uchiha Itachi…

………..Wait ………Naked?

* * *

Hinata coughed as she tried to explain what she had seen earlier to her very curious team mates.

"What did you saw, Hinata?" Kiba demanded as both he and Akamaru stood in front of her. "Is Sakura alright?"

It was a matter of seconds before Hinata could regain her ability to speak...

"Hai," Hinata said weakly, her face still flushed with what her byakuugan had seen earlier.

"She's fine." Hinata said hurriedly as she suddenly thought of her friend "But we have to save her before they run out of oxygen in there"

"They?" both her team mates asked looking confused.

"Yes, they." Hinata immediately responded and avoided their questioning stares. Once before, Hinata would have answered her team mates without hesitation but now that their friend was in grave danger. Hinata wouldn't want to waste another minute explaining to them about the naked man beneath Sakura.

"I have no time to explain to you," Hinata said anxiously and they both her team mates stared at her before agreeing.

"We have to save Sakura." Kiba said firmly and Akamaru barked beside him while Shino nodded his head through the hood of his jacket, his hands tucked inside his pockets.

Hinata smile at them before turning towards the site where she had seen Sakura below the rubbles of rocks. The fire had been extinguished by the water that Shino's bugs had taken from the nearby river, allowing them to roam freely over the piles of rocks without setting there clothes on fire.

"Let's start here." Hinata pointed to the area where she saw Sakura's still figure 20 feet below from where they were standing.

"How many feet do we have to dig?" Kiba asked as climbed on Akamaru's back.

"20 feet," Hinata answered.

"It's that deep?" Kiba asked frowning as he estimated the amount of chakra that they had left to dig through the rocks to save Sakura.

"Hai," Hinata confirmed.

Kiba sighed and readied himself for a head spin as he and Akamaru formed the hand seals for their new developed technique. 'The double white fang technique'

"Hinata," Kiba said looking serious "Akamaru's chakra and mine would be depleted before we could even dig through an 8 feet hole."

"We would never finish the--"Kiba was cut of short when Hinata gave him a sharp look through her activated byakuugan.

"I know Kiba," Hinata said softly "But we have to try…… Shino and I will replace you if you got tired."

"So you don't have t worry…..Sakura would be out of there in not time if we combine our abilities." Hinata assured him and Kiba just stared at her for a minute before giving her a fanged smile and a thumps up. Then he and Akamaru were gone in a blur of swirl as they aimed for the area where their teammate was located.

Hinata watched them as she twiddled her fingertips in a sign of nervousness and distress. Shino was standing beside her and was also watching their team mate as he continued to drill through the rubles.

* * *

Sakura had stopped breathing for a different kind of reason. She had finally realized that the man beneath her was wearing nothing but his bare flesh a mere meters from her own. Their surroundings were flooded with darkness and the only light that illuminated them was the chakra barrier and the remaining blue liquid from the tank. Red and green blended well with the blue and green lights that surround them.

Eyes held and locked.

Sakura's arms strain from the effort of supporting her weight and the boulders of rocks above the chakra barrier. The building had totally collapsed and buried them inside. They would suffocate to death if her team wouldn't reached them on time Sakura's chakra was almost to the point of exhaustion that her thighs and arms strained to stopped the boulders from crushing them. Sakura's condition was weakening and the man beneath her hadn't done anything to help her. The man was still looking at her like she was some kind of specimen from other planet. Well, as they say: women come from Venus while men came from Mars.

Sakura stiffened when the man beneath her suddenly moved.

"Don't you dare move," Sakura barked as her muscles flexed involuntarily as she tried to stop herself from reaching for a kunai behind her. Konoha might think that this man was a hero but Sakura still thought of him as an S-class criminal who killed Sasuke's family. This man was dangerous and Sakura would never forget that about him.

The man beneath her slowly raised his hands towards her while Sakura's body instinctively tried to get away from him. Sakura's hands and knees were glued to the circle of kanji that protect them and Sakura had never felt so vulnerable until now.

There she was, holding the chakra barrier above them with a well known S-class criminal beneath her, a very naked S-class criminal at that. Sakura dug her gloved fingers into the floor where the kanji was placed. Her chakra pulsed from her fingertips and kneecaps as she raised her body away from him. The floor cracked from beneath the pressure and Sakura successfully raised an inch away from the naked man.

Sweat was beginning to bead on Sakura's body, mixing with the blue water that was still clinging to her wet clothes. A small droplet of blue water escape from her wet hair and slide across her forehead towards the bridge of her nose. Sakura didn't notice the droplet as she continue to strain while the man beneath her had suddenly stopped moving to look at the blue drop of water.

The man watched its progress as it's slowly hang at the tip of Sakura's nose. Sakura had closed her eyes when she tried to avoid the man's close proximity. Sakura was still busy drawing her chakra around the barrier that she missed the sudden flashed of interest that the man was directing at her small nose.

The blue water slide down her upper lip and Sakura had unconsciously licked it with her tongue as she keep on straining her muscles. Sakura was gasping for breath with her eyes still closed when she suddenly felt something brushed on her lips.

Sakura's eyes flew open to stare at the man beneath her. Itachi's thumb was brushing her lower lip while he looked into her eyes. Sakura was frozen in shocked at the predatory look on the Uchiha's eyes. Sakura moved an inch away from him as his hands began to slide down the curve of her neck towards her shoulders. Sakura shivered involuntarily when Itachi pushed from the ground with his elbows.

Sakura's body jerked when Itachi pressed his body against hers, making her aware of his nudity. Sakura tried to hide her panicked with a withering glare that could make a lesser man run for cover. As what Sakura expected, the glare didn't work on the Uchiha, as his hands had found there way towards the hem of her shirt.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sakura hissed at him, her eyes flashing with anger and outrage. Itachi's hands halted at the hem of her red shirt, his eyes staring blankly at Sakura. Sakura's eyes flashed another 45 degree Celsius of heat when the Uchiha did not answer her question.

Sakura moved her hips and chest away from his body where they had been almost touching against each other.

"If you make a move again," Sakura threatened, her eyes pointedly looking towards the hand near the hem of her shirt. "I would not think twice to kill you."

Sakura shot him a glare as her body began to drip with sweat at the effort of pushing her body away from him. Itachi just gave her one of those expressionless stares of his before moving his hands again. Sakura's eyes widened when Itachi's hands tagged her shirt up before dipping down and touched the bandage wrapped around her upper torso. Sakura's eyes had caught sight of his lips turning at the corners before she collapsed on top of him.

Her palms and knees slide from the kanji and the barrier above her flickered. Sakura's eyes were squeezed shot as she concentrated hard to draw the last ounce of chakra into the barrier. The barrier flickered again when the kanji below her emitted a green color before surrounding the diminishing barrier around them. The barrier now was much bigger than the last time since Sakura's arms and knees had extended making the barrier an oval shape than spherical.

Sakura was took a lungful of breath when she suddenly felt dizzy. Her chest meeting a solid and warm wall each time she took a breath. Her forehead was pressed against a broad shoulder as she tried to regain the last of her strength. Exhaustion was slowly seeping into her strained muscles that she did not care that her body was pressing against a very naked male beneath her.

Sakura could feel the muscles rippling through the wet cloth and bandages that separated her from the man. Each time he breathed, his chest would slowly brush against the tip of her breast which was already sensitive from the cold. Sakura's knees were still placed on either side of the man and her wet black shorts was already riding up to her mid thigh that Sakura could feel the mans skin brushing against hers.

The man beneath her seems to be enjoying torturing her as he raised his upper body a little further with his elbows to support him. Sakura raised her head from his shoulder to take a good look at him. It was a mistake, and Sakura found herself gazing at him.

They were pressed against each other to closely that they could feel every rippling and every tensing muscle against them. Sakura's breast was squashed against his chest that she had a difficulty in breathing as she tried hard not to raise her chest as Sakura inhaled. Sakura breathe softly but each time she did, her breast would still brushed against the man. Her nipples were already erect from her cold shirt and she doesn't want Itachi to get the wrong idea.

Itachi was still staring at her and the hand that had touched her earlier was slowly making its way towards her kunai pouch. Sakura could feel his hands running over her black shorts but Sakura did not make a move or say anything to stop him. Sakura only gave him a tired look through her lashes as her body slowly slumped over his. Sakura had given up the idea of Itachi finding out about her nipples brushing against his. Sakura leaned forward, her eyes half lidded as she continued to look at Itachi's sharingan. Sakura could feel his breath brushing against her cheek while he stared at her in return.

Sakura wondered why Itachi didn't do anything to get them out of there. It seems that she was the only one who had given an effort to save their sorry asses from getting crushed. Itachi would have used his Amaterasu to blow a hole through the rocks or used his genius mind to find a way out from there but he hadn't done any of it. Sakura was expecting him to do something but Itachi had remained as still as a statue as she continued to hold the barrier.

Sakura was beginning to think that this Itachi had lost his brain when he had been proclaimed dead 1 and half year ago. Sakura was also thinking the possibilities of why Uchiha Itachi was still alive. She was thinking that maybe the Akatsuki had kept Itachi's body alive while his brain had been transplanted into someone else's. Like Uchiha Madara, Madara might be carrying the brain of Uchiha Itachi while this man below her was merely a body with an artificial brain. Sakura had used her wild imagination to draw out the reason of why Uchiha Itachi was alive but all of them had been nonsensical. All her wild ideas was merely…..well wild. Sakura really didn't know why the Uchiha was still alive but she was going to find the answers later after they escaped from this situation.

Itachi hadn't spoken or even give any sign that he understood their current situation. Sakura was beginning to get frustrated and the same time tired as her chakra was slowly draining. Sakura glared at the man through her tired eyes.

"Your groping me wouldn't save both us from this situation, Uchiha." Sakura spat as she tried to regain some anger to her tired senses. It worked and Sakura's eyes were spitting fires again when she finally realized where the Uchiha's hands had landed. Sakura immediately raised her hips away from him as his hands reached her kunai pouch.

Sakura growled as her eyes came unto focus at the threat in front of her. Her hips were held in one of his hands while the other hand was trying to reach for her kunai pouch again. Sakura's chakra turned deadly as her kunoichi instinct made her take action. If she couldn't use her hands and knees to hurt him then she have to used her teeth to do it for her. Sakura's was ready to sink her teeth on his lower lip which was a mere inches from her own when Itachi moved.

Itachi had detected her intent and had moved on time to let Sakura bit his neck instead of his lower lip. Sakura taste his blood as her teeth sunk into his skin. Itachi did not winced from the pain as he took a kunai from Sakura's pouch before placing it at Sakura's nape.

Sakura froze, her teeth still buried at Itachi's neck as she recognized the silent threat. Sakura slowly withdrew her mouth from his neck while Itachi held the kunai in place. Sakura stared at the bite marks on Itachi's neck and Sakura slumped over him when her tired muscles protested. The barrier was slowly flickering but Sakura still held it in place as she gasped for breath, Itachi's blood trickling from her mouth and into Itachi's broad shoulders. The wound on Itachi's neck bled and Sakura watched it through half lidded eyes.

Sakura felt Itachi moved as he positioned the tip of the kunai at the collar of her red shirt, before pressing it against her skin, drawing blood.

"Are you going to kill me?" Sakura asked quietly as she laid her head on his bloody shoulders. The Uchiha did not respond to her question and Sakura laughed weakly at him before saying. "If you kill me….. The chakra barrier will break and we'll both die here."

The Uchiha remained silent as the tip of the kunai grazed her neck, ruby droplets staining her creamy skin and her shirt .Sakura waited for him to respond but she only heard a tearing sound as Itachi ripped her red shirt and bandages. The kunai drawing blood as it grazed the nape of her neck towards the base of her spine. Her creamy back was exposed as her bandages and red shirt slide from her skin.

"_So this is how it is, huh?_" Sakura silently thought as she felt the remaining thread holding her shirt in place fell apart. "_After saving him earlier, he had to turn into all Mr. Silent Ass on me and then groped me while he's at it….."_

"…_..this must be one of my nightmares that I might wake up from…."_ Sakura thought hopefully as she squeezed her eyes shot. Her eyes shot open when she heard the clung of her kunai as it hit the ground. She felt Itachi's hands caressing her back, making Sakura's body jerked in surprise.

"_Nope…this isn't a nightmare…..Uchiha Itachi has really turned all pervy on me…_"

The bandages that had been covering her chest and stomach loosened and her breast sprung from the tight hold that the bandages had on her. Sakura flushed crimson as her erect nipples rubbed against Itachi's chest through her wet clothes. Sakura tried to move her weakened limbs but she couldn't, her body was becoming heavy and the only thing she could do was turned her head. The little struggle that she had given Itachi had tired her already weakened muscles.

Sakura moved her head from Itachi's broad shoulder, to gain some decency as all her weight was now pressed against him. The chakra above them becoming useless when small rocks beginning to escape from the barrier and was showering over them. Sakura look into Itachi's face and gave him a weak but condensing stare.

"I don't know what you're doing…." Sakura began as she leaned over him, her breathing becoming a huffed. "….But you have to something to get us out of here…..there's no time for--"

Sakura stiffened as she felt his cold fingers brushing against the based of her spine making her shiver.

"--this" Sakura gasped as her skin tingled when Itachi had traced something at the based of her spine. Sakura's body was suddenly flooded with warmth as Itachi pressed his hand against her vertebra. Sakura arched her back as something shoot up from the base of her spine and towards her entire body. Sakura's hands and knees dug into the ground as she bit her lip, her eyes glazed as continued to look at the man beneath her. Itachi observed her reaction as another jolt of electricity jerked her body awake and making the chakra barrier surged into life. Sakura used the unknown electricity to hold the barrier in place as it continued to give her strength.

Itachi was watching her closely and had remained silent the entire time when her body had reacted to the invasion of his chakra on her. Sakura accepted his chakra gladly and was going to thank him when his hands had moved behind her back to trace a character.

Sakura's body flushed as Itachi pressed hard on her spine. Sakura threw her head back and yelled in pain. Her gloved fingers and toes curled as the unknown feeling running through her veins become so painful that it brought tears to Sakura's eyes.

Sakura felt like her entire body was burning and Sakura slowly slide on top of Itachi. Her face buried deep into his neck where she had bit him. Sakura's red shirt had slide from her shoulders and hang on her upper arms, her chest rose and fell each time she took her breath. Her cleavage that has been revealed by her torn shirt was pressed skin to skin against the man beneath her while the rest of her chest was still covered by her red shirt.

The man beneath her was tracing something at the base of her spine and Sakura was too tired and in pain to find out. The burning feeling was slowly diminishing and Sakura noticed that it was retreating towards the area where Itachi had pressed his hands earlier.

"What did you do?" Sakura asked in an angry voice, cold sweat was dripping from her nape towards her exposed neck. The blood from the wound that Itachi had inflicted upon her was still bleeding openly and Sakura could still feel a sting of pain coming from her wounds.

"What did you just do to me?" Sakura demanded as she suddenly felt fine again. Sakura was no longer exhausted and she was ready to tear the silent man beneath her from limb to limb. Her hold on the chakra barrier was still in placed and she was not going to break it by doing just that.

"What had just happen--"Sakura stilled as Itachi's hands trailed towards the skin of her stomach before caressing it. Sakura suddenly felt warm all over and the feeling increased when Itachi's fingers stoke her belly button, making Sakura squeezed her knees around Itachi's muscular thighs. Sakura's breath had hitched as the hand disappeared inside her red shirt. Sakura arched her back and her mouth half open as Itachi cupped her breast, a moan escape from her mouth as his thumb flicked over her sensitive nipple.

Sakura was confused and a little light head as her body responded to his touch but her mind was against it. Sakura tried to withdraw from his hand but her body wouldn't move. Sakura was furious at Itachi for touching her but her body seems to be enjoying the pleasure. Sakura bit her lips as sweat began to pour from her forehead .Sakura fought against an invisible force that controlled her body but every time she did. The burning feeling that she had experience earlier would shoot from her spine and consume her entire body.

Sakura tried to glare at the man beneath her whose lips had curved into a smirk. His hands had trailed down her ribcage and towards her waist where his hands landed on the throbbing region of her back. Sakura hissed in pain as his hands hovered above something behind her back. Sakura tried to move her body away from him but the pain was too much for her to handle. Itachi pressed his hands over the throbbing area and Sakura's head lolled to the side as her body suddenly become jelly.

Sakura leaned towards him, her eyes becoming heavy as she stared at Itachi's spinning sharingan. The tomoes of his sharingan bled before turning into Mangekyou. Sakura did not immediately register what was happening to her until Sakura saw Itachi's lips moved beneath her own.

"**_Sa-ku-ra,_**" Itachi mouth her name before using his Mangekyou to loll her to sleep.

Sakura leaned forward as her eyes became drowsy. Sakura was on her way to dreamland when something warm brushed against her lips, her sleepy eyes slowly drifting upwards towards Itachi's Mangekyou.

"_Forget this,_" a voice commanded in her mind but Sakura was already half conscious to even think that someone had penetrated her mind.

"_Forget what happen here._" the voice said softly as Sakura finally fell asleep. The marked on Sakura's back diminish as Itachi sealed the mark with his hands.

The chakra barrier above them disappeared and Itachi directed his spinning eyes at the falling rocks. His right eye began to bleed as black fire shot from his Mangekyou Sharingan.

* * *

"KIBA, SHINO MOVE!" Hinata shouted as she saw the black fire shooting towards there direction from below. Her team mates immediately responded to her command and jumped out from the 13 feet hole that they had dug. The hole was huge enough to fit 8 people and Team 6 had done a great job in achieving the feat.

Team 8 ran 10 meters away from the area before the black flame reached them; but the black flames blasted through the rocks and throwing them a distance away from the site. Kiba hit a tree while Shino landed on the ground on his back. Akamaru on the other hand had a better landing as he skidded on the ground with his huge paws, showering rocks and dust in the process. Hinata was no better than her two team mates as she found herself thrown in to the thick foliage of rosebush. Thorns cut through her smooth skin while Hinata winced in pain.

Black smoke was rising from the burnt area and Team 8 could only watch as the black flame consumed the entire hole that they had dug earlier. Boulders of rocks and broken wood sizzled as the black flame spread through the entire area. The blast had blown the entire area with its black flame, creating a huge crater at the center.

Team 8 waited for something to happen and their thoughts were answered as a man stepped out from the huge crater carrying their pink haired friend. Team 8 was relieved to see Sakura's form but their relief was soon dampened as their eyes landed on the man who was carrying her. The air around them stilled as the man directed his ruby eyes towards them. Team 8 froze at the man's eyes, ruby eyes bled and spun before forming into a Mangekyou Sharingan.

The thought for their friend's safety flew from their minds and was replaced by the thought for their own safety as they encountered the man's Mangekyou.

"…An Uchiha?" Kiba whispered as they all tensed when the man moved. They still hadn't notice that man was naked except for Hinata who had seen the man earlier but she hadn't gotten a good look at him to realize that the man was indeed an Uchiha.

"Don't let your guard down," Shino cut smoothly as he prepared his bugs for an attack. Hinata was distance away from them and was using her byakuugan to inspect the man's chakra.

"His almost out of chakra." Hinata said as she and her teammates position themselves for an attack. "We can bring him down--"

Hinata's words were cut short as the man disappeared from their sight, only to reappear behind them. Sakura's small form moved in the man's arms and Team 8 watched their friend's eyes slowly open before coming to rest on the man holding her. The man was gazing at them and Sakura's eyes followed his eyes.

Sakura's blank eyes settled on them and Team 8 instantly froze at the blank look on Sakura eyes.

"It's alright Hinata...Kiba...Shino..." Sakura said softly to them her eyes not showing a flicker of emotion.

"He wouldn't harm you..."

Team 8 was dumbfounded as they continue to stare at their brainwashed friend.

"…Ne? …Itachi-Sama?" Sakura turned towards the man who was holding her, a small smile gracing her lips.

Team 8 almost fainted at the honorific while they watched the man gazed at their pink haired friend.

Ruby eyes turning onyx as they held the gaze of the pink haired kunoichi in his arms.

Sakura was smiling up at him before raising her hand to...

* * *

"**Has he finally awaken?**" a grating voice asked as he directed the words to the man behind the oak desk.

"Hn,"

The black side of Zetsu take that as a yes before inquiring again.

"**When would you tell Sasuke about this?**" Zetsu asked and waited for the man to respond.

Uchiha Madara was silent as he flipped his gloved hands over the page of the black book. His orange mask laying on top of his desk as he read the words written on the page. Madara turned to look at the man standing in front of him and spoke quietly to him. His red eyes glowed through the candle lightened room.

"When the right time comes" Madara said cryptically.

The white side of Zetsu raised an invisible eyebrow at his cryptic words and queried.

"And when is this 'right time'?"

The black side of Zetsu shoots his other half a glare (If that is possible) while Madara ignore the glib.

"Soon," Madara replied his eyes going back to the page of his black book.

Madara's lips curling into a cruel smile as he stared at the contents of the page.

"Very soon,"

* * *

SLAP

"What the fuck was that all about? Ha?" Sakura yelled as she throw a punched at Itachi's naked shoulders. Team 8 stared at their friend in shocked; who had been looking a still doll a moment ago was now beating the crap out of the unknown Uchiha.

"Put me down, you evil nymphomaniac!" Sakura seethed with rage as she threw a punch on Itachi's expressionless face, who avoided it.

"Get your hands--" Sakura started but suddenly found herself lying on the ground with a bruised ass and a throbbing vein on her head. Sakura glared at the infuriating Uchiha who still didn't find an effort to cover himself. Sakura stood up and raised her head to look Itachi in the eyes. What Sakura found there made Sakura sucked her breath as she gazed at Itachi's onyx eyes which was the exact replica of his younger brother, Sasuke.

Sakura's eyes softened at the sight but she was still furious at the Uchiha for ripping her clothes like that and then touching her. Sakura didn't remember the rest after that but she got the feeling that the Uchiha had taken advantage of her.

Sakura had been sleeping when she heard a voice calling through her foggy mind. The voice was commanding something to her but Sakura didn't know what the voice had said; the moment she had open her eyes she felt like someone had taken over her body. She did not recall what she had said to her friends after that but when she had called Itachi as 'Itachi-sama', Sakura was brought back to earth and had instantly slapped him.

Sakura didn't know what had just happen but she was going to find out from the silent male in front of her. Sakura's eyes turned back to steel as she glared at the blank looking Uchiha. If Itachi had a piece of cloth over his errrrm--hot body Sakura would have shaken him by the scruff of his neck but since Itachi didn't have a spare cloth to wear. Sakura just contented herself to imagining that she would be strangling the Uchiha with her bare hands. Sakura didn't want to touch him anywhere even through her gloved hands. Sakura wouldn't let her virgin body near the Uchiha again. Since the black haired male had proven himself to her that he was not only an S-class criminal but an S-class pervert as well.

"What did you do to me, Uchiha?" Sakura demanded but Itachi did not reply. Sakura's eyes flashed in annoyance at Itachi's unresponsive face. Sakura pointed her index finger at him but she did not dare touch his bare skin with it.

"I've tolerated your silence for this long," Sakura said the silent man "But my temper is running short and I won't be responsible for my actions if you keep this up. So I advice you to speak,"

Itachi's eyes flashed crimson at her command and Sakura was too angry to even care. Her friends behind her tensed as they prepared for the sudden attack but Itachi did not move from his position.

Sakura eyed his sharingan warily as she continued to seethe in indignation. This man had violated her person earlier and she was not going to let him go that easily. She was going to fight him first before her thirst for blood would be fully sated.

Itachi's sharingan was spinning dangerously and Sakura could feel her friends moving for an attack. Sakura's eyes landed on the bite mark that she had given to him earlier. The blood had dried but the wound was still bruised and swollen. Sakura's eyes flashed in anger as she recalled the events that took placed after the building had exploded. Sakura had saved Itachi's life and he had rewarded her chivalry by tearing off her shirt and then groping her. Sakura had never felt this sudden thirst for blood as she look at the blood on the Uchiha. Sakura would really enjoy beating this arrogant man for taking advantage of her earlier. Sakura suddenly regretted her actions for saving the Uchiha.

Why did she save him? Sakura blamed it on the medic side in her. Sakura would never allow someone to die around her clock that was why she had been forced to heed the her medic instinct to save the Uchiha. Sakura just wished that she wouldn't have to save the Uchiha again. Sakura would later regret it for sure.

Sakura glared at the bite mark when she remembered that the bite had never even elicited a reaction from the Uchiha earlier. He had been so quite when Sakura had bit him that made Sakura wonder if Itachi really had a high tolerance to pain. If her bite mark couldn't even force a reaction from him, then what would be his reaction if she do this?--

Sakura's left fist pulsed with chakra as it went straight towards Itachi's face and at the same time her right leg flying towards Itachi's stomach. Itachi disappeared in a cloud of smoke as her aims hit a kagebushin. Sakura's brow furrowed as she growled in frustration. If it wasn't for Itachi's sharingan, Sakura would have thrown him a hundred feet from here.

Sakura felt the air shift behind her and Itachi appeared at her back with a kunai on her neck. Sakura could feel his bare chest against her exposed back where Itachi had torn her shirt. Sakura froze when she felt a hand caressing the base of her spine. Sakura felt warmth seeped through her entire body before suddenly relaxing. Sakura stood there for a moment with her head leaning over Itachi's broad shoulder. Sakura had closed her eyes that she had missed the shocked look from her friend's faces as they watched Sakura welcome the intimate touch from the man behind her.

Sakura was purring like a well stroke kitty as Itachi continue to rub her back with his thumbs. The kunai was gone from her throat and was replaced by Itachi's wondering hands.

"Sakura--" Kiba began his eyes wide with shocked as he watched them. "The man is your lover?"

Sakura's head which had lolled on the Itachi's broad shoulder snapped up at Kiba's words.

"…My what?" Sakura asked looking dazed, she could still feel the warmth flooding her senses as Itachi continue to stroke her back.

"Him--"Kiba pointed at the man behind her. "Is he your lover?"

Sakura was again brought back to reality and tore herself away from Itachi's embrace.

"NO!" Sakura barked in horror as she stared at her shocked friends.

"He would never!" Sakura continued "This man is not my lover--"

Something brushed against her back, making Sakura jumped in surprise. Sakura whirled around to stare at the smirking Uchiha behind her, Itachi's eyes were hooded by thick lashes and was giving her a bedroom look. Sakura flushed crimson, half in embarrassment and half anger. Sakura threw daggers at him before growling at him.

"Stop touching me, you pervert!" Sakura's eyes flashing as she met Itachi's amused eyes.

"What is up with you?" Sakura snapped at him while he continued to give her one of his sultry looks "Is this how supposed-to-be-dead men react after they're brought back to life? You all go horny at the sight of a woman?"

Itachi's smirked was instantly gone at Sakura's words replaced by a frown on his handsome face. Sakura gave a frown of her own as he remained silent.

"What do you mean by supposed-to-be-dead man, Sakura?" Hinata asked curiously, her face was beat red as she hide her eyes with her palms. Although her byakuugan was activated as she surveyed the male specimen in front of her.

"This--" Sakura began as she pointed a finger at Itachi's direction. "--Perverted man is--"

Itachi suddenly took hold of her hands and then slowly take her gloved off her. Sakura glared at him and had tried to remove her right hand from his grasp.

"AHHHHHH..." Sakura screamed in frustration as Itachi still didn't let go of her. "What's wrong with you, Uchiha? I thought all Uchiha's are supposed to be intelligent and well ma--"

"Hn"

Sakura blinked as she suddenly stopped struggling to look at him. Kiba and Shino were also staring at Itachi while Hinata stared at Itachi through her hands.

"Did you just say 'Hn'?" Sakura asked, looking dazed as she felt like she was going to faint from the sudden response from the Uchiha.

"Hn,"

Sakura almost swooned at the sound; Sakura shook her head trying to see if this was only a hallucination.

"_Yes, this is definitely real_" Sakura thought as she looked up at the Uchiha.

"Hn," Itachi responded as if she could read her thoughts.

Sakura gave him a withering stare before saying.

"Is that all you can say?" Sakura asked, her eyes flying with sparks. "How about 'thank you for saving my life' or 'I'm sorry for groping you earlier'?"

"Hn" Itachi responded as he scanned her entire body. Sakura glared at him when he still gave her one of those Uchiha 'hns' which she could not translate without consulting with his younger brother.

"Can you translate that into words, Uchiha?" Sakura said and was ready to bite his head off if he responds another 'hn' again.

Itachi gave her a pointed look before shaking his head in a negative answer. The vein on Sakura's head began to throb while she ignored the curious stares that her friends directed at both of them.

"Why won't you speak?" Sakura burst out as she threw her hands over head in sign of frustration. "and please don't tell that a cat got your tongue,"

Itachi's eyes flickered at her words and Sakura caught sight of the sudden change in his eyes. Sakura gazed at him with a dawning comprehension.

"You--" Sakura began as she pointed her gloveless finger at him. "A cat got your--"

Sakura's words were cut short as Itachi grasp her index finger before placing it inside his mouth.

Sakura almost fainted as she finally found out why the Uchiha had been silent the entire time.

"Shit!" that was the only reaction that Sakura could give as her finger encountered of what was left of Itachi's tongue.

--

**_TO BE CONTINUED..._**

**_PLEASE REVIEW...PLEASE REVIEW...REVIEW..._**

xx I hope you like this chapter...my hands was already aching when I was typing this chapter. I know it is very long and at the same time very short for me...I know it doesn't make sense. How can this story be long and at the same time short? Well I really don't know.

--

Madara is planning something and it seems to revolving around our main characters and one vengeful teen. What does Madara want from our pink haired medic? And what does Itachi got to do with it? When will Madara reveal the truth to Sasuke? And what would Team 6 and Sakura do with Itachi? What would be the Hokage's plan of action after she learns about Itachi's existence? And the last and final question...Why Uchiha Itachi is still alive?

Let's find out in the next chapter of 'The Shinobi Path'.

--

Thanks for the reviews: **_Ozeki, knightchaser, camya,shaude, Teenagecrisis, The Squabbit and Melodi Moon._**

Thanks for the reviews and for adding this story to your story alert list. Your reviews had really helped in continuing with this story.

**_Also thanks to Yami Uchiha for editing this..._**

Thanks...Hope to see you next time.


	6. Hello and behold the naked man

"**The Shinobi Path"**

**Itachi/ Sakura**

**Rated M**

**Adventure/ Romance/ Drama**

**Chapter 6**

**--**

**Recap**

_"Is that all you can say?" Sakura asked, her eyes flying with sparks. "How about 'thank you for saving my life' or 'I'm sorry for groping you earlier'?"_

_"Hmn," Itachi responded as he scanned her entire body. Sakura glared at him when he still gave her one of those Uchiha 'hns' which she could not translate without consulting with his younger brother._

_"Can you translate that into words, Uchiha?" Sakura said and was ready to bite his head off if he responded another 'hn' again._

_Itachi gave her a pointed look before shaking his head in a negative answer. The vein on Sakura's head began to throb while she ignored the curious stares that her friends directed at both of them._

_"Why won't you speak?" Sakura burst out as she throws her hands over head in sign of frustration. "And please don't tell that a cat got your tongue,"_

_Itachi's eyes flickered at her words and Sakura caught sight of the change of emotion on Itachi's eyes. Sakura gazed at him with a dawning comprehension._

_"You--" Sakura began as she pointed her glove less finger at him. "A cat got your--"_

_Sakura's words were cut short as Itachi grasp her index finger before placing inside his mouth._

_Sakura almost fainted as she finally found out why the Uchiha had been silent the entire time._

_"Shit!" that was only reaction that Sakura could give as her finger encountered of what was left of Itachi's tongue._

--

"Shit!" Haruno Sakura cursed again as she started pushing chakra in her index finger to heal Itachi's severed tongue. Sakura lurked in her feet when her head began to spin, her chakra supply was already empty and the small fight with the Uchiha had already drained the last of her energy. Sakura didn't know where she had gotten the energy to fight the Uchiha but Sakura couldn't think anymore as she suddenly black out.

--

**_(Thanks Melodi Moon for pointing this out and here's the exhausted Sakura you're asking for)_**

--

"Sakura," Hinata cried softly as she watched her friend fell unconscious over a very hot male specimen. Hinata took a peek through her covered eyes and look over her pink haired friend with her activated Byakuugan. Sakura's chakra was already empty and Hinata could see that there were chakra burns on her friend's palms and knees. Sakura must have forced out the remaining chakra out of her body and burnt the skin on her palms and knees.

The burnt was merely superficial and a minor injury compared to the scratches on Sakura's face and a cut that run from the nape of Sakura's neck to the base of her spine. Hinata was concern that the cut running on Sakura's spine must be affecting her friend's thinking capacities. The empty look that Sakura had exhibited to them earlier was enough proof that there was nerve cell damage on her friend's spine.

Hinata let her hands fall from her eyes as she watched the black haired man catch her friend. Sakura's finger was still on the man's mouth as she lay in a pile of unconscious heap on the man's naked torso. Team 8 did not move from their place to help their friend.

They were still wary of the man, an Uchiha and a Mangekyou did not bode well to them. The mere sight of it made them think that this man was one of those Uchiha traitors of whose goals in life were to destroy the foundations of Konoha.

Team 8 watched at the man wrapped his strong arms around the unconscious form of their friend. The black haired man stared at the pink haired kunoichi before letting Sakura's finger slipped from his mouth. The man pulled their friend closer to his lean torso before letting his eyes wonder in their direction.

The eyes of the man were no longer Ruby but Team 8 still did not let their guard down. Even though their friend had just told them that the man was not going to harm them. The man's chakra was not telling them otherwise, the man's chakra was dark and menacing that made Team 8 tense from the feel of it.

The man was silent and his face was unreadable as he surveyed them. Team 8 took good look at him and what they found out made them raised their guard a little higher. The man's aristocratic features was the exact replica of one Uchiha Sasuke but this man was more on angular than Uchiha Sasuke's softer features.

The man was pale like he hadn't been outside for more than a decade. The man's cheek bones were arched high while his eyes were slanted at the corners. They discovered to there surprise that the man's lashes was thick and long could that could drive a woman crazy by looking at it. The man's long and thin nose suit well with the rest of his features and adding to his attraction. There were also distinct lines on the man's face which serves as to totally distinguishing him from one vengeful Akatsuki teen. The man's thin lips were set into a straight line with the corners tilted downwards while he continues to make his judgment on them.

The blazing black fire continues to sizzle and crackle on the background as they stood there amongst the ruins. The silence was broken by Kiba who was on a defensive stance, his hands on the kunai attach to his left thighs while his diamond irises where flashing as he glared at the black haired man. Akamaru was beside him with his hackles rising and was baring fangs at the impassive man.

"What did you do to her you—you—" Kiba stuttered when he had just realized that the man was naked. Shino did not react at the sight of the naked man as if it was a normal sight to him while Kiba on the other hand was looking like it was the end of the world.

Hinata on the other hand had appreciated the beauty of such attractive specimen, eyes not leaving any details.

"Get some clothes on, man!" Kiba shouted as he took off his jacket and throw it at the Uchiha. Itachi was holding Sakura in his arms that he couldn't catch the jacket on time. The jacket hit Itachi on the face and immediately crunched his face in disgust at the stunk the jacket was emitting. Itachi's shook his head to take off the jacket from his face but all it did was slide down into Sakura's unconscious form.

Itachi used his right hand to hold the kunoichi's body up right against him while he used his free hand to take off the jacket from the muff of pink hair. Itachi slowly lifted the jacket from the kunoichi's face and then throw it back at the boy who had red triangles running down his cheeks. Itachi gazed at him coolly as the jacket hit the boy's face in return.

Itachi's eyes went back to the girl in his arms and closely inspected her. The girl's breathing was even but the girl's face was pallor and Itachi could no longer detect any trace of chakra from her. The girl had totally emptied her chakra supplies from supporting that barrier and from fighting him. His master was right. The girl was a compassionate soul for saving someone who doesn't needs to be saved. The girl had given up all her chakra to support the barrier above them and Itachi had seen it as an opportunity to place the seal on her.

If his information was correct, this girl was the key into unlocking the Mangekyou Sharingan and Itachi had been sent there to bind her soul to him. The girl would be useful in the future but before that happen Itachi would have to place the permanent seal on the girl. Itachi had 1 month before the temporary seal would wear off and Itachi would have to take her before that time comes. The girl had already proven to him that she was a willing candidate to his future plans. The way she had responded to his touch would make her an easier conquest and from what he had gathered from his memories, this girl was connected to him in some ways. The girl's connection to him would have made easier for him if it wasn't for her friends. Itachi would have easily extracted the memories that she had with him and gain her trust and friendship immediately.

Itachi had already placed the girl in to fitful sleep earlier and had made her explore her mind to look for those memories that she had with him. The only thing that he had to rectify was the opinion of the kunoichi's friends and had used the girl to make them believe that he wouldn't hurt them. Itachi would have spoken to them but since half of his tongue was missing he merely used the seal and ordered the girl to speak for him in his behalf.

The kunoichi's friends had chosen to be another obstacle the he would have to face but there was nothing that the Uchiha could handle. Itachi would have to gain their trust and the girl's trust before he could enact his plans. Itachi had 1 month to do it and by that time, he was sure that they would slowly lower their guards down against him.

"Anou--"The lavender eyed girl said and Itachi turned his head to look at her. The girl was wearing a purple jacket and a blue slacks. Itachi knew her to be a Hyuuga, the veins on her eyes was enough to make his judgment true.

"Anou—" The girl said; again as she moved forward towards him carrying what look like to be a small round container. Itachi watched her intently as she extended her hand towards him. "Th-this is as her--herbal medicine….it would heal Sa-Sakura's wounds and…and yours"

The girl indicated to the dried blood staining the pale skin of his broad shoulders. Itachi did not look at it but continue to watch the trio in front of him. The girl was the only one who was showing of letting her guard down while her other team mates were still looking like they weren't going to anything of that sort.

Okay, one person down; three more people to go.

Itachi watched as the girl neared him, her eyes were still wary as she took a step closer to him. Itachi had no intention to harm the girl but the girl's team mate seems to be thinking the exact opposite as they suddenly snatch the girl before she come any closer.

"Hinata, are you nuts?" Kiba barked his hand gripping his team mate's arm while his other hand was still holding the kunai that he had taken from his arm guards. "This man is an Uchiha……he might be one of the Akatsuki"

"Yes, I have thought of that Kiba-kun" Hinata said softly but her eyes were as hard as a granite as she glared at her team mate through her Byakuugan. Hinata shook of the hand that was holding her and step away from her team mate. "But this man saved Sakura……."

Hinata pointed at the black haired man who was holding their friend's unconscious form. Hinata turn back to her concern team mate and tried to explain to him.

"We have to trust him……." Hinata said almost pleadingly to Kiba. Sakura was injured and the only thing that she could heal her friend was passing through the silent male without a fight. If they fight there way to get to Sakura, there will be more casualties that will befall on them and adding to their minor injuries. Since Sakura seems to know the man well, Hinata made the choice to approach the man without looking suspicious. Hinata wouldn't want the man to attack her while she was just going to heal her friend.

Hinata began to move towards the man again while casting a warning glance at Kiba's direction to stop him from interfering again. The man had not made a move that he was going to attack her so she slowly relaxed each time she took closer to him. It was like walking towards a wilder beast, trying to be as cautious as not to trigger an attack from the beast.

"Hinata," Kiba said from behind her, his voice had a tinge of warning and panic as she came to complete in front of the man. Hinata could feel her friends tensing and could hear Akamaru growling from behind her. Her team mates were ready was going to attack if the man was going to make a move to harm her.

"Here's the medicine." Hinata said calmly as possible but her heart was racing when she met the eyes of the man. The man was giving her a blank stare before nodding his head in response. Hinata watched as the man slowly reached for the medicine, the man's hand was already an inch from the medicine when Kiba choose to attack.

Kiba flicked his wrist and sent the kunai flying towards the man while Shino just stood there with his hands buried on his pockets. The Aburame hadn't made a move from his relax stance but Hinata could feel that the bug expert was drawing his bugs from his body and was ready for an attack.

The man in front of her did not move as the kunai flew towards him. Kiba was already forming a hand seals for a jutsu when Hinata stopped him. Hinata took a kunai from her pouch before deflecting the kunai aimed at the man. Hinata stood protectively over her friend's unconscious form and the man.

"Kiba stop that now!" Hinata snapped her Byakuugan activated as she glared at her team mates. Shino had drawn his bugs around them while Kiba and Akamaru had combined to transform into a monstrous two headed white wolf.

"I said stop it, Kiba!" Hinata tensed with the kunai in front of her as she watched the dog specialist twirl around in the air before zooming into them like a drill. Shino had stopped at her command and had allowed the bugs around him to pause mid way for an attack.

Kiba could be stupid sometimes but she had already gotten used to his stupidity like her loud mouth boyfriend. Although she had forgiven her stupid team mate for accidentally detonating the exploding tags earlier than what was expected. Hinata would never forgive him if something happen to Sakura if he keeps on attacking the black haired man without a care that Sakura might get injured in the process.

Hinata leap out of the way as the drill made its way towards her direction. Rocks and dust scattered as drill hit the ground where the man had been. Hinata watched as the man carried Sakura's unconscious body in a bridal style when Kiba readied himself for another attack.

"KIBA, YOU'RE GOING TO HURT SAKURA IF YOU KEEP ON ATTACKING HIM!" Hinata screamed at the top her lungs as her team mate took another aim at the passive man. The drill stopped but continue to twirl in mid air meters from the black haired man. There was a puff of smoke as Kiba and Akamaru terminated the jutsu to glare at the man who remains expressionless at his glare.

Kiba growled at the man who totally reminded him of one arrogant Uchiha Sasuke but this man was far worse than Sakura's ex-team mate. If Sasuke had stick stuck up his ass, then this man has steel the length of a giraffe stuck up his ass. The man was an Uchiha so he expected nothing less and nothing more from the man but an arrogant and cold disposition. Kiba and Akamaru both growled at the man threateningly but all the man did was stared blackly at them.

"Kiba!" Hinata barked as she strode towards them briskly. Her Byakuugan piercing through their skulls, Kiba whipped his head to look at his furious team mate.

Kiba almost want to hide as he saw the spitting fire in Hinata's eyes. Kiba blame it on Sakura and Hinata's boyfriend Uzumaki for influencing his team mate. Gone was the shy and soft spoken Hinata and was replaced by very strong headed and sharp eyed Kunoichi as she strode towards him with purpose. Hinata knuckled him on the head and Kiba blame it on Sakura for teaching her that.

"Kiba-kun, why did you attack him like that?" Hinata asked her eyes were hard but her voice was soft with a tinge of steel to it. "You could have hurt Sakura!"

"I thought he was going to attack you, Hinata." Kiba said as he rubbed the sore on his head. "I was only protecting you."

"Kiba no baka…." Hinata sighed as she closed her eyes and then look back at the man who was still holding their friend. Hinata shot a glare at her team mate before moving back towards the black haired man. Shino and Kiba watch her go, their bodies tensing but they did not made a move to stop her this time.

"Here let me heal my friend's wounds while Kiba and Shino—." Hinata shot a pointed look at her team mates who straightened at the look. "…will find something for you to wear?"

Kiba and Shino look incredulous at the suggestion although Shino was able to hide with his jacket and sunglasses but Hinata could still see the shift of his relax stance at the suggestion.

"…But Hinata--!" Kiba protested but his words were cut short when Hinata gave him a glare. Kiba scowled before grumbling under his breath. "Can't believe Hinata—"

"Kiba," Hinata threw a warning behind her back when she saw that her team mate had not made a move to get extra clothes for the man to wear. Hinata had already dismissed the man's nakedness since her attention was preoccupied with her friend's wounds. The man had given Sakura to her almost reluctantly as he placed Sakura's unconscious form on the ground.

Hinata did not noticed when the man left her side and was now slowly making his way towards her two frozen team mates. Hinata didn't look at them as she busied herself in applying the herbal medicine on scratches on Sakura's face.

Itachi moved towards the two who was evening him warily although he could not see the face of the other boy Itachi could see the movement on his shoulders to make his statement true. The boy was still wary of him. Itachi halted 5 meters away from them and waited for them to make a first move. The boy who Itachi was sure to be one from the Inuzuka clan fidgeted at his intense stare before moving. The dog beside the boy was still baring his fangs at him with his front hind legs bent which indicated that the dog would pounced on him if as so harm his master.

The boy with the sunglasses, who Itachi was sure to be one from the Aburame Clan after seeing his bugs earlier, had remained watchful as the other boy beside him began to rummaged through his back pack. Itachi watched as the boy pulled something from his back pack before throwing it in his direction. Itachi caught the shirt followed by a pair of black pants and Itachi have to catch it before it landed on his face again. Itachi was relief that the shirt and pants were clean and it did not stink like the jacket that the boy had thrown at him earlier.

"Wear that," the boy mumbled to him before turning around with his arms crossed in front of him. The Aburame was watching him closely as Itachi pulled the shirt over him. The shirt was a bit to loose for him and the trousers were hanging around his trim waist like it was about to fall. Itachi cast a glance towards the Inuzuka who caught the glance before glaring at him.

"What? I don't go on a diet; you know like some other people." The Inuzuka growled at his lean and muscular form beneath his new set of clothes.

Itachi stared at him blankly before turning his head to look at the direction of the pink haired kunoichi. His eyes met those of the Hyuuga who was watching him with a frown on her face. Itachi's eyes drifted towards the kunoichi who was lying on a lateral position, his eyes slowly inspected the exposed skin of her back.

The wound was gone as well as the curse seal that he had imprinted on her. Itachi could feel the stare directed at him after they saw the tear on the kunoichi's shirt which was obviously cut by a kunai.

--

"_Pway!" little Sakura squealed as she was suddenly lifted by someone._

"_Pway!"_ _Little Sakura squealed, her hands outstretch in front of her as she tried to touch the face of the boy who was giving her a soft smile. The boy's obsidian eyes softened when her small finally reached him. Little Sakura's small palms brushing against the boy's cheek who had was carrying her close to him._

"Pway!" _Little Sakura said with her palm resting against the boy's cheek and smile on her face._

_Little Sakura watched as the raven haired boy gave her a soft smile before answering her._

"_Hai."_

_--_

Sakura slowly drifted into awareness and opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling above her. Sakura could feel the warm sunlight touching her face coming from her open window between the twin beds of the room. Sakura stared blankly at the ceiling before becoming aware to where she was.

"_The ceiling?_" Sakura thought and she sat bolt upright from her bed with her eyes frantically searching for her team mates. Sakura's eyes landed on Hinata's back pack lying on the twin bed beside her and the sight of it made Sakura sigh with relief. Hinata and the others were safe and they still hadn't gone to the building where the informant had told them.

They hadn't started their mission yet.

Sakura and her team mates where still in the inn where they had stayed for the night after 5 days of non stop travel from Konoha. They had been so tired after arriving in the Country of Spring that they had never thought of camping outside. They had all agreed that it was better to stay in an inn than to set a camp outside. The idea of sleeping in a soft and warm bed was a better idea than sleeping with the night critters on the forest surrounding the small town.

The Hokage had really been drunk when she had ordered them to come back within 2 weeks and their team had pushed themselves to complete the mission with in 2 weeks. It was just lucky for them that they had found an inn before they hit the sack. Their team had really been exhausted from the journey and had rested for 2 more days in the inn before they can start their mission.

The inn had been hospitable and very accommodating to them when they had needed something. Their ninja clothes had caused a stir on that peaceful town upon their arrival and they had been seen as an object of speculation and curiosity. Sakura had not objected to the curios stares from that town folks and had in fact she had welcome it. Sakura knew the feelings to well that she had ingrained it in her being.

Sakura was as much as curios as they were because Sakura had always been a curios creature since she was born. Sakura would never give up on a search hunt and had always thrive to find knew things around this world. Sakura had seen as a challenge to gain more knowledge from different areas of life.

Sakura had read countless of books that range from fiction to non fiction which always left her wanting for more. Sakura's curiosity had not been sated from the previous books that she had read and had spent her time researching new data and facts. The library had been was a perfect place for her and Sakura had called it her second home.

She had been reading passed records of Konoha when something had catch her interest. Sakura become obsessed after that and had spent time doing some experiments and researching inside her hospital which had become her first home. Sakura had already opened her own laboratory in the underground Hospital and had made it her home.

Sakura had installed a bathroom, bedroom and a kitchen next to her laboratory. Sakura had moved in there when she had started her research which had been 4 months ago after her encounter with her former love. Sakura had distracted herself with the research and had only gone out from her underground laboratory to do her hospital works.

Sakura's shishou had noticed this and had kept on persuading her to take a break and Sakura had decline the offer. Sakura was too obsessed with her new findings to even get away from it for a second. The Hokage of course knew what she was doing because Sakura had told her Shishou in the first place but the rest of her friends had been kept in the dark. The Hokage had ordered Sakura that the research would be a top secret and the only one when knew about her research were Sakura's lab partner, Shizune, and their guinea pig.

Although, Sakura had not been alone to lead this research, Sakura was the only one was overworking herself; while Shizune had been like her deceased mother. There was not a time that Sakura hadn't heard a scold from her comrade and Sakura had been grateful for her concern. Sakura wouldn't have a break through the new findings if Shizune hadn't been there to watch be her guardian angel of some sorts.

After Sakura had gotten a break through from her research, the Hokage had ordered her to take a break but not before reprimanding her for over working herself. Sakura was sure that Shizune was the one who suggested it to the Hokage but the pink haired medic had let the black haired passed without a glare in her direction.

Shizune had only been concern about her so Sakura had left it at that. Sakura hadn't had an opportunity to take a break because her Shishou suddenly had a change of mind and had given her a mission instead. The Hokage had told Sakura in her semi-drunken state that Sakura had been out from the field of action for to long and had immediately sent her to this mission.

Now here she was, lying on the bed with a sore body and a throbbing head ache to boot.

Sakura flopped back on her pillows and groan in frustration and pain. Sakura had been assured by the back pack's presence, Hinata and the others were there.

"God….. This must be the effect of a 5 days travel to reach this god forsaken place" Sakura mumbled to herself. "If that's the case, I won't come back here again…..ever."

Sakura rolled to the side and buried her face in her pillow.

"_Hinata must have gone out to buy some food._" Sakura thought as she nuzzled her soft and cuddly pillow. "_I wonder what the boys are doing right now…"_

Sakura stop nuzzling her pillow to extend her senses and search for her team mates in their room. Sakura could not hear a sound coming from the next room and could not detect her team mate's chakra.

"Kiba and Shino must have gone out too…" Sakura mumbled in her pillows and raised her head to look at the clock on the side table near her bed. Sakura groan as she stared at the clock. It was already 10: 40 am and they were supposed to set out and search the location which was a 2 days journey from their current location.

They had already over stayed for 2 days in the inn and they had 3 days left before the Hokage expected them to arrive from their mission. This journey was not supposed to be a vacation and the two days that they had stayed in the inn would certainly alert someone. They had hidden their Konoha fore head protectors but the clothes that they were wearing when they had arrived in that small town were proof enough of their profession.

Sakura and her team would have to leave the small town before their unknown enemies could attack, whether there is an enemy or not in the first place. Sakura's sigh was muffled by her pillow when she suddenly made her decision. Sakura wouldn't want to get the civilian people involve with their mission and the unknown threat that surrounded them.

Sakura rolled over the side of the bed before slowly sat up. Sakura would have to take a bath and wait for her team mates to arrive to where ever they had been that morning. Sakura was still sore all over and she wanted to relax her aching muscles with a warm bath. The bath sounds good to Sakura and had immediately headed to the bathroom with a towel in hand.

--

Sakura hummed a tune as she close her eyes and let the water cascade over her face. The warm water was slowly soothing her aching and sore muscles. The grimy feeling like she hadn't taken a bath for more than 3 days was gone and was replaced by the feeling of freshness and clean.

Sakura's stomach grumbled and Sakura look at her flat belly with a frown on her face. Sakura suddenly felt like she hadn't been eating for days and the thought of food made her mouth water. Sakura hurriedly applied the shampoo on her hair and began scrubbing it. Sakura was going to eat a huge meal for breakfast after this. Sakura's stomach grumbled again and Sakura began to massage her scalp hurriedly with shampoo.

Sakura was just watching the water went down the drain while rinsing her hair when she suddenly stilled. Her eyes following the droplets of baby blue water that had come out form her hair. Sakura's heart began racing when she suddenly recalled the events that took place in her 'dream' …….or it hadn't been a dream all along?

Sakura hissed when she felt the shooting pain shot out from the base of her spine. Sakura's body tensed when she suddenly felt like she was no longer alone in the bathroom. Sakura watched in horror as the bathroom curtains slide open, revealing who she thought to be a dead man.

"Get out!" Sakura said to the man in dangerous voice as she tried to cover her nakedness. The man continued to move towards her while he begun to stripped his clothes off. Sakura watched in complete horror as Itachi's sharingan bled red as he inspected her bare flesh. Sakura flush crimson red when she finally realized what he was about to do.

"I SAID GET OUT!" Sakura screamed at him after he had stripped the last piece of his clothing which wasn't much. Itachi had just worn a pair of pants and a shirt while he was totally bare underneath it. He was neither wearing any brief nor a boxer when his pants hit the floor along with the rest of her clothing.

Sakura was vulnerable and naked. Her weapon pouch and the weapon that she had hidden in other areas of her body were stashed along with it. The only thing that she could do was use her chakra to defend herself. Memories began flooding in her mind and her dream became a living nightmare as the man step inside the shower with her.

Sakura gathered a chakra in her fist as the man took a step closer to her. She took a step back with her eyes looking terrified and her face pale. Sakura's heart was beating loudly in her ear and the adrenaline was pumping in her veins. Her back encountered the cold tile wall of the bathroom and made her felt like a cornered animal.

Sakura's breath became labored as the man halted in front of her.

Sakura raised her chakra laden fist to hit the arrogant face, but before her hand could graze the skin on Itachi's face. Sakura suddenly found herself cage in the tiled wall with a very attractive and very naked man in front of her.

Sakura knew that she was in trouble from the way Itachi was looking at her.

TO BE CONTINUED........INSERT EVIL LAUGH...OMG THE TERRIBLE CLIFF HANGER.

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I'm sorry for the very long update...I'm really really sorry...It took longer to write this story because I have been watching anime series in chrunchyroll lately...I've been distracted by handsome men in Saiunkuko Monogatari...I always like to watch a reverse harem anime enough with the rantings.

I hope you like this chapter although it is shorter than my usual chapters I still hope that you like it.

And before I forget, one of the reason it took me so long to update is because I have written 2 other version of this chapter and I should blame it in my perverted muse to write lemons and limes for this chapter. If you want to read the failed version of this chapter, you can read it in my deviant account.

I really don't what had gotten into me lately but I hope that this won't happen again. My perverted muse is pushing me to write more lemons and limes so I think I'm gonna finish my 'Once upon a touch' before I can write the other chapters of my stories.

I also want you to know that I'm gonna be writing the 'Dance of Seduction' after I'm done with epilogue to 'itch'

Thanks for reviewing: TeenageCrisis, shaude, GOTH Lolita27,Melodi Moon,camya,Artemis J. Halk,mairi,Vaneles,Awiii,Okawari and harukanaru.

I would also like to thank those anonymous reviewers.

Your reviews made me realize that I should believe in myself, without your reviews I would just be someone who always dream of great things but never working towards it. I will continue this story because of you and I hope that you will still be there when I close this chapter with one final twist.

Most special thanks to my partner in crime Yami Uchiha for being such a great beta and for editing my stories. Even though she's a Sasusaku fanfiction writer, she still put up with me a Itasaku fanatic and a pervert.

Hope my perversity wouldn't rub on her.

Last but not the least; I would also like to thank Melodi Moon for pointing out my mistake about a non-exhausted Sakura. Melodi Moon, here's your exhausted Sakura. So to those people who would like to point out any mistakes that I had made. Please leave a comment.

If you have something else to say to me regarding some confusing stuff in this story you can PM me.

Once again thanks for the reviews. I see them as stars in my dreamscape, ne?


	7. Trapped

**Disclaimer:** You know what? I don't actually own Naruto. I only own Itachi and Sakura, who Masashi Kishimoto begrudgingly lends to me for no more than 2 years.

**Warning:** Nudity

**_Thanks for the reviews: _**

_anon_

_shaude_

_TeenageCrisis_

_Melodi Moon_

_Awiii_

_Vaneless_

_Artemis J. Halk_

_Yui-chan453_

_Emily Le Fay_

_AmaneUchiha_

_Redhellion_

_tokiwasan_

_tennen'rookie_

_Regin_

_monteclarissa_

_XDmomopoppyXD_

_mypleasurableaddiction3945 _

_and trsofnaruto. _

**Thanks for the reviews!!!!**

**I have to place you at the top since reviewers comes first than my authors remark.**

I would also like to thank trsofnaruto for pointing out my mistake. **Thank you so much trsofnaruto!!!**

And **TeeageCrisis**, I agree with you I will keep the lemon until later and I hope by that time, I would have improved writing lemons.

**Hisashiburi de:** This hasn't been edited so forgive me for the mistakes and grammar errors I made.

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"**The Shinobi Path"**

**Rated M**

**Adeventure/ Romance/ Drama**

**Itachi and Sakura**

**Chapter 7**

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**RECAP**

_Sakura was just watching the water went down the drain while rinsing her hair when she suddenly stilled, her eyes following the droplets of baby blue water that had come out from her hair. Sakura's heart began racing when she suddenly recalled the events that took place in her 'dream' …….or it hadn't been a dream all along?_

_Sakura hissed when she felt the shooting pain shot out from the base of her spine. Sakura's body tensed when she suddenly felt like she was no longer alone in the bathroom. Sakura watched in horror as the bathroom curtains slide open, revealing who she thought to be a dead man._

"_Get out!" Sakura said to the man in dangerous voice as she tried to cover her nakedness. The man continued to move towards her while he begun to strip his clothes off. Sakura watched in complete horror as Itachi's sharingan bled red as he inspected her bare flesh. Sakura flush crimson red when she finally realized what he was about to do._

"_I SAID GET OUT!" Sakura screamed at him after he had stripped the last piece of his clothing which wasn't much. Itachi had just worn a pair of pants and a shirt while he was totally bare underneath it. He was neither wearing any brief nor a boxer when his pants hit the floor along with the rest of her clothing._

_Sakura was vulnerable and naked. Her weapon pouch and the weapon that she had hidden in other areas of her body were stashed along with it. The only thing that she could do was use her chakra to defend herself. Memories began flooding in her mind and her dream became a living nightmare as the man step inside the shower with her._

_Sakura gathered a chakra in her fist as the man took a step closer to her. She took a step back with her eyes looking terrified and her face pale. Sakura's heart was beating loudly in her ear and the adrenaline was pumping in her veins. Her back encountered the cold tile wall of the bathroom and made her felt like a cornered animal._

_Sakura's breath became labored as the man halted in front of her._

_Sakura raised her chakra laden fist to hit the arrogant face, but before her hand could graze the skin on Itachi's face. Sakura suddenly found herself cage in the tiled wall with a very attractive and very naked man in front of her._

_Sakura knew that she was in trouble from the way Itachi was looking at her._

**_-----------------------------_**

Sakura did not dare move, afraid that her flesh would brush against the naked man standing so awfully close to her. An angry blush suffused her cheeks and neck as she stared at the man, who was intently regarding her flushed face.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura hissed her eyes flashing with ire.

The man stayed silent, his eyes unblinking as he gazed into her eyes. Water dotted the man's outrageously long lashes, the warm water now cold as they stood underneath shower, drenching their bare skin.

Sakura's face turns a violent shade of Magenta as she tried hard not to get distracted by the man's awesome physique. The man was absolutely gorgeous, though she only got a glimpsed of a slab broad shoulder, muscled arms and a pair of damnable pecs, and Sakura couldn't go any further. She had seen many naked men in her years as a medic, but this man had totally disarm her by the mere sight of his naked torso. The man had welcomed himself on her bath without an invitation, and she was near to venting her explosive temper on him.

But she couldn't do that as Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan span in warning as she made a move to kick kneed him. Her bare legs brushing against his calf and she almost turn a deep shade of tomato, as their skin brushed. He was getting wet from the shower above them, sheen of translucent droplets streaming down his skin and sliding downwards where she didn't dare her eyes to wander for the sake of her innocent eyes.

"What did you do to my friends?" She asked her voice steady but inside she was collapse with fear. Terror griped her heart as her eyes were fixed on Itachi's adam's apple, her head barely reaching his chin while she avoided Itachi's deadly sharigan. She could feel his penetrating as he looked down on her bowed head. "Did you kill them?" Sakura did not give Itachi the opportunity to speak, which he couldn't since he was mute. "If you did, I will kill you with my bare hands." Sakura said without fear, her eyes sparking with depth as she curled her hands into fist, drawing her hands tightly on her sides.

"I will not for---" Sakura's skin jumped with surprise, her heart began to raised in a erratic crescendo. Her eyes flying towards Itachi's face, which was pasted into an aloof mask. He was holding her hand between them, and then carefully placing it onto the hard planes of his stomach.

"Wha—what are you doing?" Her face turning into a deep crimson as she sputtered, after her eyes had accidentally caught something equally discomfiting that shook her too the core. "Don't touch me!" Sakura ordered with a shaking voice, trying to pull her hands away, her voice reverberated inside the bathroom that Itachi blink in surprise at the pitch. "Let me go!!" Sakura become hysterical as she couldn't pull her hands successful from Itachi, who was forcing her hands to slide up his tight pecs, gently brushing one masculine nipple that flustered Sakura to no end.

The maniac pushed her to the cold tile wall with a hand pressed on her shoulder while the other one guided her hand over his broad shoulder and then to his sensuous mouth.

"_Curse the Mangekyou!"_ Sakura thought as she trembled, her eyes spiting fire and fright as Itachi parted his lips and began sliding a finger inside his mouth. _"I'll kill him," _she wrenched her hand from his grasp, eyes smoldering with wrath and vexation as she gathered chakra into her fist; ready to slammed it into his chest.

She was almost near to accomplishing the task when Itachi captured her wrist and twisted it behind her back, unmercilessly snapping her wrist. Sakura sucked a breath as the broken bone radiated with pain, her eyes showing her dilemma, a fleeting moment and it was gone, and turns into a full blown rage as she snarled.

"You will pay for that, Uchiha." Her eyes spitting with burning fire as she made a move to pummel the Uchiha's arrogant head. She did not have the chance as she was suddenly seized by attack invisible flames that erupted from her back and spread over her entire body. She did not noticed Itachi's hands at the base of her spine as she jerked, a burning sensation leaking out from the place where Itachi had touch.

"Arrgghhh…." She screamed with pure agony, her body doubled over while Itachi took advantage of her vulnerability, and scoop her into his arms. The agony was gone instantly as Sakura find herself being carried out from the bathroom and towards the bed.

She landed with a flop on the bed, her form still shaking while sprawled above her, trapping her. She paled, her breathing labored as she placed a hand on his wet chest, helpless trying to pushed him. They were still soaking wet and Sakura's bed sheets was beginning to absorb the water that dripped from their body.

"What did you do to me?" Sakura asked, her voice unusually weak while her eyes were shining with fear as Itachi's Mangekyou span. "What did you do to my body?" she was unexpectedly rolled onto her belly, Itachi's movement unperceived as he slides a hand on her flat stomach, making her squirm.

She could no longer feel the rumpled cloth of bed sheet underneath her as Itachi move with blind speed to remove the cloth and draped their bodies with it. She could understand what he was doing as she felt a hand drifted further and further to cupped her breast.

Sakura swiftly tried to remove his hand from her unchartered body part as she gritted her teeth with anger. Her broken wrist lay neglected on her side while her good hand dug into Itachi's wrist, trying to twist it as he did to her.

She froze when she felt him pressed his lean body against her back, something foreign yet brazenly obvious after studying the male's anatomy. Sakura mentally groan as she shifted her attention to the threat, her body moving hastily when Itachi started to part her legs and exposing the sensitive area of her neither region to the drafty air. She was in trouble as Itachi pinned her hand beside her, cruelly bruising the hand. She tried to kick him with her feet while expletives began tumbling down from her mouth.

"You asshole! You piece of shit!," She hissed as she struggled underneath him, "I'll castrate you if you as so as rape me! I swear to Kami that you would suffer a painful death if you force your—your—" she stuttered finding a hard time for a better word to describe Itachi's…. erm male anatomy. "your masculine being…" Itachi blankly stared at her choice of words while she resume to verbally abuse him and trying to throw him off her. "to invade my---"

The door suddenly flew open and one burly man and an old woman barged into the room. The gray haired woman with warm brown eyes and a smile was the owner of that homely inn they were staying, and the burly man with dusty auburn hair and cobalt blue eyes, was the old woman's son.

Light was streaming down on them from the open window where the wind entered the room and the sound of passersby walking just below their window, drifted towards them. The two figures standing at the doorway, stood stock-still and inexplicably shocked as they stared at the two forms underneath the bed sheets, apparently doing something inexplicit and kinky.

"Eerr…we're sorry to interrupt." The woman said bowing her head, averting her eyes from Itachi's piercing stare and Sakura's dumbstruck features. "We thought we heard a scream coming from here." The woman's son ogled at them, his eyes seems to bulge from its socket as he dumbly surveyed the two figures.

"I thought someone had been hurt, but I made a terrible assumption." The woman took a glance at them while Sakura close and open her mouth like a floundering goldfish. "I should better leave you to your business," the woman began moving away from the threshold and towards the hallway. "Jiboro!" the stupid, burly man snapped in surprise as his mother called his attention. "Come, we have to attend to the inn." Jiboro gazed at his mother before casting a glance at Itachi and Sakura, and then lumbered to his mother, looking like he had been cheated off from the most interesting show ever.

The woman look at her son and back at the room, "We will place a 'do not disturb' sign outside your door to prevent this from ever happening again." Then gave an apologetic smile, her eyes were not glittering with censure as she looked inside the room, her brown eyes bespoke of her understanding and great wisdom. "Once again I would like to apologies for disturbing." the woman said again and bowing slightly, and secretly looking extremely amused about something when she threw Sakura a knowing look before closing the door with an ominous shut, and then departed.

Sakura stared at the close door, slightly disoriented by the whole fiasco. She remained thunderstruck and righteously and utterly humiliated for making the old woman think that she and Itachi was---.

Then she recalled where she was, and her anger, fear and all the emotions that wracked havoc over her mind and body return, leaving nothing behind as Sakura shook with repressed rage.

"You did that on purpose!" Sakura said shrilly, twisting away from him.

Itachi got away from her though not with fear but curiosity as he scans her features when she pulled the bed sheets around her breast, meanwhile glaring fiercely at him.

He gave her a blank look, his impressive form shamefully covered, the sheets wrapped securely around his lean waist, hiding everything and presenting a devastating picture of decency.

Which Sakura could highly doubted as Itachi's eyes drifted towards the valley of her breast peeking from the wrapped sheets.

"You big pervert!" She said with an angry growl, skittering away from her afraid that the sexually absorbed man would climb up on her again and grabbed her breast for the fun of it. "I can't understand why you made them believe that we were having---" she couldn't mention the 's' word without actually blushing.

She bit her lips and took a step back from the bed, then froze when the sheet that wrapped around Itachi's waist moved to disentangle.

The insufferable man merely gave her a stare while she tried not to move, seeing him naked again would traumatized her, she wanted to forget the image that burn in her head. She could not dare think of him as a highly attractive male specimen. Uchiha Itachi, would remain out of her reach to keep the last of her innocent mind intact.

And by doing so, she have get away from him. She contemplated her escape plan, becoming desperate when she could not stand the Uchiha's discomposing silence.

Her eyes venturing back to the sheet that wrapped around Itachi's waist and an idea struck her, and then without thought, she moved pull the sheet before the Uchiha could intercept her action.

She resigned herself as she tagged the bed sheets away from the silent man, and then snapped her eyes shut when the cloth came away. She averted her gaze as she began to run, holding the fabric of cloth around her, wincing as her wrist throb with pain; the cloth that had been used to cover Itachi trailed behind her.

She has to found out what happen to her friends. She needed to know what the Uchiha had done to them when he couldn't tell them himself. And she has to get out from there before the Uchiha could kill her or worst, rape her. Fighting him in her current state of underdressed was possibly the most severe situation that she had encountered. The Uchiha had her at the disadvantage.

Her feet had only taken a couple of steps forward when she felt an arm snake around her waist. There was a soft rustling sound as the Uchiha divested her off the white bed sheets; her skin met bare warm hard flesh as she was ensconced into Itachi's lean form.

A hand brushed against the base of her spine and her eyes suddenly burst with stars, darkness dotted over her vision; currents of liquid electricity shot from the base of her spine, spreading and consuming her entire body, making it tingle and jerk painfully. There was a pounding on her head while the man bent down to scoop her into his arms. She was already half conscious when the man gently laid her on the feathery bed.

"_Don't fight me, Sakura." _A smooth voice spoke inside her head as she looked up at the man through dazed eyes; she was falling, falling into the sea of unconsciousness. _"I have no intention to kill you," _the voice a balm to her tumultuous mind that lulled her to sleep. Her vision darkening, Itachi's form only an outline of her poor periphery. _"so please rest assured that no harm will befall on you when I'm here."_

Sakura's eyes fluttered shut, her mind going to blank, a soft buzz beginning to vibrate from the corners of her mind.

"_I am here as your aid,"_ Itachi thought, regarding Sakura's face with a calculating glint in his onyx orbs. _"securing the safety of my master's plans is my top most priority." _

He moved, climbing on top of her, a hand sliding over her smooth skin, caressing the soft swell of her stomach to venture downwards and curve a masculine hand at the small of her back.

The woman arched her back involuntarily, throwing her head back as a moan tore from her lips, still unconscious. Her petite body shuddered while she dug her heels on the bed while the man injected his chakra onto her veins; his chiseled chest and the hard contours of his stomach, unashamedly rubbing against the moaning and shuddering woman underneath him.

The woman's eyes shut open after Itachi withdrew his hand away from her to cup the curve of her waist. She stared at him through empty emerald orbs, her face vacant.

"_Let's begin,"_ Itachi spoke to her inside her head, capturing her uninjured hand and leading it towards the place where his purpose lay.

Itachi did not look away from her as he leaned forward and made himself comfortable, parting her legs to accommodate him, wanting to make her familiar with him in her state of automation. _"Do as I say."_

"Hai, Uchiha-sama." Sakura whispered her voice monotonous while her movement mechanical. Itachi's eyes faded into its original color having of no use of it after entrapping Sakura into his spell.

And the web of lies and deception began.

* * *

The soft sound of footsteps echoed on the hallway, as blue haired and lavender eyed girl sauntered towards her room, the faint crackling sound emitting from the two huge plastic she was carrying. She turn left, her gait unchanged as she neared the room that she and her friend were occupying.

She came to halt in front of the well paneled door, her eyes immediately turning to a frown as she stared at the do not disturb sign hanging on the golden door knob. It was a short moment after that she realized that she had been malingering in the hallway for too long.

She entered the threshold, her eyes going straight towards Sakura's bed, where she could see a huge lump lying underneath the bed sheet with pink hair lying in disarray over the pillow.

The Hyuuga sighed, carefully dumping the plastic bags on her bed without waking up Sakura, who she knew was a light sleeper. She gently tiptoed towards Sakura's bed, careful not to wake her up. Hinata looked down at her friend, a bewildered frown appearing in her beautiful face as she watched the wet sheets covering Sakura and the huge welt underneath Sakura's head, where the pillow had absorb water from Sakura's wet hair.

Sleeping in that state would surely make her friend ill but she didn't have the heart to wake her up. Sakura needed rest after she had diffused all of her chakra to make that chakra barrier and surviving from that explosion. She needs to recover from the chakra exhaustion and from the days that they had traveled to find the location of that hideout.

Hinata surveyed her friend for a long moment, deeply contemplating the well being for her team mate, Team Captain and friend. She decided to leave Sakura to catch with her sleep and went to retrieve the baggage that she had been carrying. Kiba would probably hungry right now after complaining about his immense dislike about his new role of baby-sitting their suspicious and mysterious guest.

Hinata slide the door open and stepped out from the room. She closed the door behind her softly and began making her way towards Shino's and Kiba's room, where the Uchiha was place under their watchful eyes.

Shino was out securing the perimeter, looking out for suspicious person if ever they have been followed after that huge explosion on the hideout. So Hinata was expecting to see Kiba after being left to guard the Uchiha, imagine her surprise when she open the door only to encounter a lone black haired man lounging on the windowsill with his hair newly showered but he was still wearing the shirt and pants that Kiba had given.

Hinata could only stare at him with wide eyes while the man did not turn away from the view outside, looking completely comfortable with his surroundings while Hinata was shaken by his presence.

"Wh—where—" Hinata cleared her throat and tried again while the man on the windowsill shifted his attention towards her. Hinata became flustered at his impersonal stare and became silent, her face turning pale. She was scared as hell as she could feel the dark aura emitting from the man; as if he noticed her discomfort, he hastily mask his chakra until it was barely discernible.

The man slowly stood up from his perch and gave Hinata his most undivided attention. Hinata's heart thudded loudly in her ears as fear creep over form, she instinctively she step back as she regarded his form against the window frame. Sunlight was streaming from outside and the outline of the man was posting a threat to Hinata as she looked at him like he just fallen from the sky like a dark angel.

Hinta was ready to turn tail and run when the man's eyes bled into ruby but she heard Kiba's voice from across the hallway. Hinata's eyes tore away from the man and towards her team mate who was striding towards her with Akamaru bounding behind him.

"Hinata!" Kiba said relieved as his eyes landed on the plastic bags Hinata was carrying. "Yes! You bought food."

She hadn't notice that she had already retreated further back and was now standing outside the hallway.

"I was going to buy some food when I realized that I forgot to bring my money," Kiba said sheepishly as he rubbed his head, looking hungrily at the plastic bags while Akamaru was sticking out his tongue, panting. "But I'm glad now that I didn't bought any," he took the plastic bags from Hinata's frozen hand and walked into the room while Hinata remain standing at the hallway.

"Aren't you coming in?" Kiba asked frowning at her while Akamaru lumbered inside.

Hinata's eyes shifted towards the Uchiha, who went back to his former position, lounging at the windowsill. Kiba followed her gaze and scowled as his eyes landed on the silhouette sitting on the window.

"Ignore him," Kiba said as he ushered Hinata inside, who walked with leaded legs. "He's just a prick." The man at the window did not react at Kiba's words, who already expected such reaction from an Uchiha. "Like that traitor, Uchiha Sasuke."

Hinata looked reprovingly at her team mate, "If Sakura heard you speak to him like that she would pound you to pieces."

Kiba shrugged his broad shoulders, dumping the plastic bags on his bed. "She's not here so she can't hurt me."

"She may not be here, Kiba-kun," Hinata said, her lavender eyes glittering with threat. "but I am. I would tell Sakura what---"

"Uchiha… Sasuke," both the arguing pair whipped their head in unison at the voice, their eyes looking shock at the man who directed a dispassionate stare at the view in front of him, his face having held no expression.

The room was silent as Hinata and Kiba waited, their eyes still wide having been given the shock of their lives when the mute man could finally speak.

Itachi's face was a mask of empty canvas as he transfixed an intense stare at the speck of dust on the glass pane. Blurry images flashing before his eyes, a foreign emotion flourishing from the onslaught as he tried to capture one fragile memory, which he knew hadn't been his.

And then he realized what kind of emotion he was feeling. It was confusion.

"Sasuke," He murmured, savoring the name in his mouth with curiosity. He turns his head, and focuses his eyes on the pair. "Tell me,"

"Who is this man to Sakura?" He asked in a quite but threatening tone, the feeling of something elusive resurfaced within his reach yet he couldn't grasp it.

"Who is this man?"

Hinata and Kiba was shock at the question and the expression shown on the man's face as he seeks some answer from them.

The man looks like he was lost.

"**_Uchiha Sasuke,"_** Itachi thought as he waited impatiently for the pair to reply, which did not take long as the two noticed the dark and chilling aura that Itachi had intentionally released to scare them off.

"He's Sakura's former team mate," Hinata squeaked hurriedly, her eyes wide like saucers while Kiba was frozen with Akamaru growling beside him.

"And—and---" Hinata sputtered as she gazed into Itachi's whirling sharingan, her face blanching. "And your bro---"

The door open, and a man wearing sunglasses with a hood and jacket covering his face and form stepped inside the tension filled room. His hands tucked inside his pockets as the man sweep his eyes over the scene, then pulling out a hand to adjust his sunglasses; meanwhile doing this with a casual slouch.

The tension in the room intensified when no one dared speak. Akamaru's hackles were rising as he bared his huge fangs at the man across the room, seemingly outnumbered by the three people.

Hinata's face was pale when she opens her mouth, wanting to end the silent war between the stoic man and her friends.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Hinata began, her voice trembling as the man directed his stare back at her after giving the newcomer a dismissive once over.

"is your brother." That was what Hinata was going to tell him when another person barged into the room, and seemingly ignoring the other occupants of the room as she strode purposely at the man on the window.

"Uchiha," The pink haired woman snarled as she raised her fist ready to strike the man. Her hand swinging for a right hook but her punch did not connect with Itachi's bland face as her wrist was seized within his strong grip.

"You used me," Sakura hissed at him, her eyes smoldering. "You used my chakra." She tried to wrench her hand away from his grasp but Itachi tightened his hold on her wrist.

"What did you do with it?" She asked while the other occupants of the room watch on. "What did you made me do that I constantly forget?" she did not winced as the Uchiha twisted her wrist but not enough to break it. "What did you do to take off half of my chakra reserves?"

Itachi regarded her for a moment before releasing her hand. He turns away from her and look out the window. Sakura's questions remain unanswered as the Uchiha dared to ignore her.

"Sakura?" Hinata asked carefully, watching as her friend clenched her fist and gritted her teeth, there was a throb on Sakura's forehead and Hinata knew that Sakura was almost nearing to her boiling point. "What did he do to you?"

"That's what I want to find out, Hinata!" Sakura snapped while Hinata winced at the sharpness of Sakura's voice. "This man went inside my bathroom while I was showering," Hinata's eyes widen with surprise while Kiba started to threaten the silent man.

"I'll cut you to pieces and feed you to Akamaru for harassing---"

"and apparently with ill intention," Sakura said, overriding Kiba's voice. "The moment I woke up. I felt like my chakra had been drain away from me," Sakura stepped closer to Itachi, trying to quell the desire to blast him forty blocks away with her fist. "And I knew instantly who was behind it."

Kiba had stopped threatening, beginning to enjoy how Sakura was going to handle the arrogant man, who did not fail to unnerve him with his silence when he had keep a close eye on him.

"Uchiha, let's try this again," Sakura began, trying to have the best impression of emulating Ibiki's infamous interrogation. "What did you do with the rest of my chakra reserves?" Her question was met with total silence and it was hard for Sakura to keep her hands off from shaking the Uchiha and tried to find some answers from him.

"Uchiha, Answer me!" Sakura commanded, her hands moving to do some major damage when she lost it. She was about to strangle the answer from the Uchiha; her hands an inch away from wrapping around his neck when he directed his eyes towards her.

She stilled, her eyes gazing into his onyx orbs.

"Sakura," For a moment she thought like she was looking at Sasuke, the same eyes and the name spoken coldly made her heart throb against her chest.

"_You're annoying." _She faltered, recalling as how Sasuke had told her that after speaking her name coldly at her; her hands falling to her side as tears threaten to spill from her eyes, her mouth trembling as she gazed into Itachi's face, who had become curious at her reaction.

"Sakura?" Hinata asked worriedly as she watched Sakura's shoulder started to tremble. Kiba, Shino and Akamaru were silent as they watch. "Are you alright?"

Sakura's throat tightened as she tried to suppress the tears that were on the verge of falling. She straightened, trying to regain some composure, not allowing for Sasuke to ruin her state of mind again.

She now knew what Itachi had used her chakra reserves for, and to her half knowledge, her life force as well after healing such irreversible wound. The new technique that she had develop was only used was for healing wounds that were irreparable and severely damage injuries, such as regenerating a severed body part. That's why she hadn't used it since she needed her life force to merge with her chakra to be able to heal the wound. Like what she did with Kakashi when he had been on the brink of death, and the reason why the man had allowed her to use him as her test subject.

Hatake Kakashi had owed him her life, but would the Uchiha do the same thing? Hardly.

She had lost some missing pieces of her memory since the Uchiha had come into her life, and she has to find out why Uchiha Itachi was still alive. That was one of the many things that plague her mind, and one more thing when she had woke up on her bed, puzzled.

"_Pway!" The pink haired girl said gleefully, and giggling when the boy with soft onyx orbs swoops down and placed her on his shoulder. "Pway!" the boy gave a small smile up at the girl who placed her hands on top of his head, peering down his face, her huge emerald orbs sparkling. _

Sakura did not know how long she had been staring at the man. The image of the black haired boy with onyx orbs stayed with her when she had sat up from the bed earlier, fully cloth but still wet with her broken wrist healed, and after a minute of consideration, she realized that she was exhausted beyond comprehension.

She knew that it was something to do with the Uchiha and she had gone straight into searching for him. She was more than relieved that her friends were safe and unharmed by the psychopathic and maniac Uchiha. She could never forgive herself of something to her friend when she was dozing off.

And it was even more a relief to her that the Uchiha was still there. She was afraid that the man had escape, leaving her to hunt him down, which would be too troublesome and such of a waste of time.

But now she was there, she was bombarded by so many questions that she wanted to ask, and the dream she had was one of the things that she would like to asked, but not in front of her friends. For some reason, she didn't want them to know there connection.

The only thing that she wanted to ask from him was, why in hell does he keep on touching her and then making her forget what happen? Like the fact that the Uchiha had successful made her heal him while she was unconscious? How could that happen?

She was going to find out when she was done with the Uchiha. She would drill him with so many questions that he would be exhausted by the end of that day.

But the only question that she could manage to blurt put was this, "What did you do to me?" only repeating the questions that she had for him earlier. She knew that she look stupid for asking the question, but what the hell? She was not going to back out from that.

The Uchiha gazed at her with a calculating gleam in his eyes as weighing something in his mind. "I used you." His answer was direct and Sakura mentally flipped backward, having been disarmed. Sakura watched him before saying.

"I know what it was for, but was that your true purpose?" She surveyed him closely, having forgotten that there was someone in the room aside from them. "There is something to this than by using my medical aid." The Uchiha considered her questions for a second then responded. "Yes," if he was going to regain her trust, why not tell her honestly?

Sakura raised a pink brow in surprise at his honest answer. "What is you true purpose then?" she asked curiously. Then she nearly shook her head when the Uchiha gave her a small smile, thinking that it was one of her dreams where she had seen that kind of smile from a dark haired boy.

"I want to be you friend," Sakura almost collapsed in shock at Itachi's revelation, her eyes wide. "After all, aren't we friends before?" Kiba, Hinata and even Shino look dumbfounded as yet Itachi had successful silence the leaf-nins with his blunt answers.

"No," Sakura denied, shaking her head, her eyes wide as she looked at him. "We weren't frie—"

"Then I'll make you remember," Itachi said, standing up while Sakura took a step back and away from him. What exactly was he planning to do to make her remember? Sakura asked herself as she retreated farther from him.

"Why don't we play ball?" Sakura frowned, unbelieving the words that came out from the ever so enigmatic thought-to-be-mass murderer Uchiha, who was obviously pretending to be talking childishly.

"No," Sakura replied, her eyes glittering with warning as Itachi took a step closer to her.

"No?" Itachi said, raising a brow in query. Sakura just stared at him.

"Well if you don't want that then," Itachi said expressionlessly as he halted to stand in front of her. Sakura looked up at him, unwavering.

"Why don't I carry you up my shoulders like I did to you when you were little?" Itachi asked already moving his hands to take her.

"You're joking right?" Sakura sputtered, moving away from his grasp.

"Joking?" Itachi asked, looking indifferent. "Why no," He followed her.

Coming from an Uchiha and a formerly S-class criminal, Sakura was just as skeptical as she knew Itachi was with friendship. She stopped moving and dared him to stand in front of her, he eyes glinting with her stubborn streak.

"I don't believe you." She said. "You're just playing with me, making me think that you care about something which you actually do not."

Itachi regarded her cooly. "I have the intention of reacquainting with you, Sakura." He said; his eyes held no secrets. "I intend to be your friend."

"Bullshit!" She spat, making Hinata and Kiba recoil at the intensity of Sakura's anger carried with the words. Shino watch in silence while Akamaru was whimpering at the corners as he felt the malicious aura coming from Sakura, who was ready to slam the Uchiha against the wall.

"Don't fool me, Uchiha," Sakura growled, pointing a finger at him. "I know you're up to something and I know it is farthest from your intention of befriending me," She tipped her head back, trying to stare him down. "And I will find it out."

For how long they stood there, toe to toe and staring at one another. They did not know. But when Sakura got tired of trying to keep her eyes from faltering, she lost and immediately turned and was ready to leave the room, and out from the presence of the insufferable man when she heard him speak to her.

"I still want to be your friend," the words totally infuriated Sakura. She whirled around and glared at the man. There was a tick on her jaw as she tried to hold on to her temper.

"Who is guarding him?" She asked through gritted teeth, her eyes not leaving from the man. Hinata and Kiba glanced at each other while Hinata hastily answered, afraid that she would suffer the burnt of Sakura's foul temper.

"Kiba," The boy shut a horrified look at Hinata, who looked apologetic.

Sakura's grind her jaw, closing her eyes. Sakura suspected it to him after seeing that the maniac Uchiha had gotten cozy with her in the bathroom. But she would find some punishment for him later. Right now, she has made sure that the Uchiha would not leave from her sight.

"Kiba," She began, opening her eyes to stare back at Itachi, who was looking at her with his usual blank stare. "You are dismissed from your duties," the boy looked highly surprise at her words. "starting from now, I will look after him. As to what will happen to him in the future, we will have to wait for the Hokage's orders."

"Shino," Sakura directed her attention to her vice-captain on that mission. "Have you sent a message to Konoha regarding our unwanted guest?" she asked him.

"Hai, I sent one of my bugs to pass the message," the boy behind the sunglasses answered, his hands tucked inside his pocket, having not moved since he had entered the room. "The Hokage will receive it by tomorrow afternoon."

Sakura was silent after hearing the news. "I see that you have taken the liberty of reporting to the Hokage, Good" she turns her attention back to the Uchiha that they had been talking for more than a minute. "Then the matter regarding this man has been solved."

Sakura stared at him as the room lapsed into a complete silence.

"Uchiha," She said, her anger resurfacing, eyes piercing into his black soul. "What ever that is you're planning, you better stop now," the man was quite after she said this, fueling Sakura's rage. "If you don't, I will surely find it out."

"Mark my words," She said ominously before whirling around and leaving the room with Hinata close behind her.

The two men remaining in the room stared after them while Itachi on the other hand, shifted his gaze back outside the window. Silent triumph glittering in his onyx orbs.

His plan was working. His master's goal was within his reach as Sakura had finally fallen into his trap. But fulfilling his master's plans was not the only thing that was occupying in his mind.

"_Uchiha Sasuke," _Itachi thought as he resumed his position on the window sill. _"Who are you?" _

_

* * *

_

**Hishashiburi de:** I know that it has been long since I updated this and I'm sorry for that. I truly hope that you haven't lost interest in this story. I surely hope that you would review. You see, I'm going to base my updates on how many reviews I got. And since 'Innocent Touches has more reviews, I will keep updating it. But first I have to update Once upon a Touch and then Dance of Seduction if I something came up, but if nothing came up then I will have to proceed with A kiss between friends and then write another story.

If things go as they plan, I will not leave this story hanging like I did before. But if it doesn't, then let's hope everything would go smoothly.

I wish you to review. That is all I asked from you when I wrote this chapter. I would have discontinued this story like some of the writers, but I didn't because I know that there are people out there are waiting for me to update. And I couldn't let them down, even if it took me a while to update, it doesn't mean that I'm discontinuing this story. It means that I find a hard time to squeeze all my time to accommodate all of my priorities without failing to leave nothing behind. For the past months, I have been slowly updating my stories and to my new ones. I have to write in a hurry so that I wouldn't lose the original plot, which happens to me quite often.

Which to God, I hope that I wouldn't messed things up when the class starts again. When the time comes that I have no time to write the stories or I'm I constant author's block, just be prepared that I will hand my uncertified resignation letter if the times come. But I hope that it won't come to that, I will also hope that you would keep me inspired by your reviews.

It is more appreciated that there are people out there who have reviewed my stories through their reviews. It inspires the writer to continue on with the story. Writing a story is not just a walk in the park you know, you have many things that you have to consider when you write a story. And the most important thing is that you are doing this because pleasure and inspiration.

It has been good writing with you.

And I hope that you will review.

Aishiteru!!!

**Here are the things that I want you to think:**

**_Why in hell is Itachi alive?_**

a_. _Madara is an alien (provided by mairi)

b. Cloning (provided by Emily Le Fay)

c. Bringing-back–the-dead jutsu

d. Body-switching-jutsu

e. Give me your own theories

f. Only the writer knows

**_Why can't Itachi remember Sasuke-teme?_**

a. His memories had been erased

b. Amnesia

c. Alzheimer's

d. Multiple Personality Disorder (where the other personality takes over and you forget everything once you came back.)

f. Your own theories

g. Only the writer knows

**_What is Madara planning?_**

a. take over the world

b. avenging his dead brother and destroy Konoha

c. rebuild the Uchiha Clan

d. Take over Konoha

e. Your theories

f. Only the writer knows

**So that's about it. Hope you review.**

If you don't, I'll ask Itachi to hunt you one by one until you review. He can trace you by using the ultra Mangekyou surveillance camera which is placed before you enter the fanfiction.

_Sayonara!!!_


	8. Caught, Tangled, and Ensnared

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

I would also like say a special thanks to my beta **ShadowHeart251** for doing the rest of the editing and help me improve my writing style.

Thank you **ShadowHeart251**!!!

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**"The Shinobi Path"**

**Romance/ Adventure**

**Rated M**

**Itachi/ Sakura**

**Chapter 8**

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**Recap:**

_"Kiba," She began, opening her eyes to stare back at Itachi, who was looking at her with his usual blank stare. "You are dismissed from your duties," the boy looked highly surprise at her words. "starting from now, I will look after him. As to what will happen to him in the future, we will have to wait for the Hokage's orders." _

_"Shino," Sakura directed her attention to her vice-captain on that mission. "Have you sent a message to Konoha regarding our unwanted guest?" she asked him. _

_"Hai, I sent one of my bugs to pass the message," the boy behind the sunglasses answered, his hands tucked inside his pocket, having not moved since he had entered the room. "The Hokage will receive it by tomorrow afternoon." _

_Sakura was silent after hearing the news. "I see that you have taken the liberty of reporting to the Hokage, Good" she turns her attention back to the Uchiha that they had been talking for more than a minute. "Then the matter regarding this man has been solved." _

_Sakura stared at him as the room lapsed into a complete silence. _

_"Uchiha," She said, her anger resurfacing, eyes piercing into his black soul. "What ever that is you're planning, you better stop now," the man was quite after she said this, fueling Sakura's rage. "If you don't, I will surely find it out."_

_"Mark my words," She said ominously before whirling around and leaving the room with Hinata close behind her. _

_The two men remaining in the room stared after them while Itachi on the other hand, shifted his gaze back outside the window. Silent triumph glittering in his onyx orbs. _

_His plan was working. His master's goal was within his reach as Sakura had finally fallen into his trap. But fulfilling his master's plans was not the only thing that was occupying in his mind. _

_"Uchiha Sasuke," Itachi thought as he resumed his position on the window sill. "Who are you?" _

**Present**

Sakura did not take her eyes off from the man walking ahead of her, who was surveying the small civilian town with great interest, his eyes not missing anything while Sakura merely observed him with equal chagrin and a bit of anger.

Like a new born child at his first sight of the world, Itachi was distracted by his new surroundings, his dark eyes taking in a fascinated light as he examine the small homely houses and the shops they had passed.

He was equally intrigued by the people of that small town as they were equally intrigued by the sight of two seemingly unusual people who had appeared out of nowhere.

The sight of her ninja weapons, peeking from her clothes had drawn the attention from a small group of people but she noticed that they were more curious to the man walking in front of her than towards her ninja weapons which had fascinated them before, though the sight of an attractive man with an air of danger around him must have piqued their curiosity.

However, Sakura wasn't going to appease their fascination with the man. She was there to go buy the Uchiha some clothes and not because for the people's benefit to ogle them over, or for Itachi to make a tourist guide out of her.

Sakura shot a glance at Hinata who had stayed inauspicious and remained a distance away from them. Making sure that this little outing would not go out of hand, and clearing the area for any sign of suspicious person before Sakura and Itachi proceed to the nearest convenience store.

Hinata nodded at her, cocking her head towards the left and assuring Sakura through her lavender eyes that the place was secure, the veins at the side of her eyes hidden behind the hood of her jacket while she continued to safeguard the perimeter.

Sakura looked back at the Uchiha and glared fiercely when she realized he was still absorbed with the town's simple yet unique architectures.

"Uchiha," Sakura said directing a piercing glare as he shifted his attention back to her.

"The store is in this direction," She waved her hand to the left while Itachi followed the direction with his eyes, his expression inscrutable, and without a word began advancing towards the direction where Sakura had pointed.

Sakura frowned but not in anger.

She was not far from behind him as she observed his unnatural absorption to his surroundings.

It was as if he hadn't seen the outside world before, but as she recalled his state when she discovered him, Sakura understood.

After one and a half year of being in that tank that shunted him from the world, where in the darkness of that underground facility had shrouded him, fortified and nurtured him, have awaken back his child like traits.

And like a child, who he was not, he resurfaces from that dark fortress with renowned curiosity that was akin to an infant's mentality. Though Itachi had never shown any sign of immaturity in him, but in fact had been as manly as the next sexually active teenager.

Grimacing in mortification, Sakura resumed her inspection while the image of Itachi's naked body pressed against hers faded away, but the flush on her face did not.

Murmurs from the town folks followed them but Sakura, whose eyes were fixed on the Uchiha, hardly registered it.

A crease appeared on her forehead as she raked her eyes on Itachi's back, her bewildered orbs zeroed on one significant feature, Itachi's flowing dark hair tied back by a torn fabric.

Sakura's frown deepened as she approximated the time to grow hair that long and discovered that it took more than a year to achieve such narcissistic feat, and Itachi hadn't been gone that long to get a new hair-do.

His hair was longer than Orochimaru's that it nearly brushed against the back of his knees.

It was way much longer than even Ino's if tied up at the top of his head. With his hair like that and with long thick lashes that woman envies to match, he would surely look more like a woman than a man.

Sakura snorted as she conjured the mental image of a female version of Itachi, her sour mood somehow elevated.

As if aware of her mental jest, Itachi paused to look at her.

Sakura tensed and tried not to squirm as he gave her a discomfiting stare. The back of her neck prickled in awareness while her spine tingled.

She shuddered, her knees weakening as she stared into pair of dark onyx.

"Uchiha," she snarled as the familiar feeling of being ensnared overcomes her, fiery heat roused from within her making her stomach flutter with excitement and painful anticipation.

It was embarrassing.

She wanted to curl and die right there and then as she could feel the people's stare on them.

Sakura bit her lip and glared, balling her hands into fist.

"Uchiha," hissing, she took a step forward, her feet trembling from the effort of standing.

She would be on her knees if she hadn't exhibited her strong resolve.

"Don't do this," her eyes flashing in warning as chakra gathered towards her fist, ready to take Itachi out. "I would not to be held responsible if you don't heed my warning,"

Tension crackled as Sakura prepared for battle while Itachi on the other hand, remain unperturbed. He just fixed his dark eyes at her and Sakura was ready to collapse under the weight of his stare.

She knew who would win but that did not stop her from reaching out and grabbed his shirt front, her lips drawn into a snarl.

"Uchiha," it was her last warning before she goes out full force.

It would be her pleasure to beat him to pulp.

The people stirred in uneasiness as the tension reached them and they began to disperse further away from them when they felt a fight brewing.

"Stop this,"

Itachi's unfathomable eyes stared back at her, heedlessly ignoring her words. His intent gaze considered her for an aching moment, then he levered her hands away from his shirt front.

Sakura was force to release her hold on him, stumbling back as her legs threatened to give way under her.

Itachi stepped back, his gaze pierce right throw her while another shock of electricity jerked her upright, her lips trembling and her toes curling of their own volition.

"Stop it now," each syllable radiated with command and anger, her turbid orbs spitting sparks of hostility.

Itachi's eyes turned cold when he heard the order. He took a threatening step forward. Sakura did not back down from his intimidation instead she met him head on.

Lifting her chin, she said, voice slightly shaking. "I'll lock you in your room and like a criminal you are, you stay there for as long as I want."

Itachi didn't even blink at the threat though his eyes turn deadly. He advance on her, his chest brushing against hers while he leaned forward, putting his face closer to hers that she could feel his breath fanning her cheeks.

She wanted to cower but she didn't let herself do such foolish notion. She was a kunoichi. She was Haruno Sakura of Konohagakure, and the apprentice of the current Hokage.

She wouldn't let her shishou down.

She met his stare, craning her neck to look up at his towering form. Kami, she never realized that Itachi was that tall, the top of her head barely brushed against his chin but she hastily dismissed their differences. She wouldn't let Itachi's height try to intimidate her, or even how his dark attractive features seem to snatch her breath away. Sakura scarcely noticed that she had stopped breathing as Itachi continue to blast her with his intense gaze.

She stiffened, her eyes widening as Itachi leaned even closer to her.

"I—I warn you Uchiha," Sakura stammered and was forced to take a step back as she acknowledge the possible threat, her face turning crimson as she faintly felt his solid chest brushed against hers.

Giddiness precariously dangled in her mind, she was ready to swoon as the flip flops on her stomach turn to a series of rampaging butterflies.

"Uchiha," She warned and as hard as it was for her to admit, Itachi's intimidation seems to work on her this time, his lips curling into a derisive smirk as he drew closer, his long lashes hiding his expression while Sakura tried to divert her head away from him.

Could he possibly be thinking of kissing her in public?

She thought frantically as she looked around her but found it deserted. The people had fled at the first ripple of deadly intent that came from her, while Hinata pretended not to have noticed anything, and now Sakura was in danger of losing her first kiss to a---

She expelled a shaky sigh, her eyes becoming limpid as she felt his hand cupping her neck, pulling her closer and closer towards his masculine lips. She shivered, her eyes veiling the spark of desire that flashed in her eyes, his heady scent flooded her senses as she became ensnared by his potent attraction.

Kami, he looks good enough to eat, and like a woman starving, she was ready to devour him entirely.

Lips parting involuntarily, her hands slipped to grab his broad shoulder, her head tilting upwards as she felt the first brushed of his lips against hers, searing her to the core.

She trembled, her hands fisting into his shirt as she placed more pressure behind the kiss, drawing his lips into hers and gently grazing her teeth over his lower lip.

The hand behind her neck tightened, she could swear that she heard his indrawn breath when she fully molded her lips against his. Then as fast he had latched his lips into hers, it disappeared. He withdrew from her, his eyes dark and cool, and convincingly unaffected while she was still quaking from his faint kiss.

He looked imperiously handsome while she acted like a wanton woman.

She seethed.

An arrogant smile appeared on his lips as if he had heard her begrudging compliment.

"Imperiously handsome, am I?" He murmured to her and she flushed with mortification.

Flustered and furious, she wanted to wipe that arrogant smile from his lips as he inspected her.

The only protest she could master was a jumble of incoherent words. "I—what?—no! Of course not!" her words however was met with a dismissive shrug, and Sakura tried again, helplessly convincing him that she didn't think of him as handsome or close to that, or else the Uchiha's head would have grown bigger.

"I didn't think anything of that sort!" Sakura congratulated herself for speaking clearly this time and for procuring a credible lie under the very watchful eye of the Uchiha.

"In fact, the thought never came into my mind," She lifted her chin, glaring but when the Uchiha raised a mocking brow at her, her eyes faltered.

Itachi stared penetratingly at her, not believing anything she just said.

Her face was still profuse with color when Itachi finally look away from her. The experience of being entrapped dissolved, but she could not shake the feeling of the heat that roused from her when Itachi had directed his intense stare at her.

It was like Itachi could read her mind, and it occurred to her that this had happen many times that she couldn't see Itachi was merely guessing.

It was if Itachi and her had this connection, and NO, she was not referring to the cosmic connection or any nonsense about soul mates. This power that Itachi had on her must be his own doing. He must have put something in her to bend her to his every whim, and had used that power to elicit that foreign yearning inside her.

A sliver of uncertainty and dread raced down her spine as she forced herself to follow him.

She could no longer deny the feeling of being bewitched by him.

She had been forced to take the Uchiha outside where they headed towards the store to buy some decent clothes for the overbearing man. She hadn't wanted to come along, but since she had dismissed Kiba and promoted herself to do the task of watching the Uchiha. It was her responsibility to accompany the Uchiha to the nearest convenience store with Kiba and Hinata securing the perimeter, while Shino guarded their belonging in the shabby inn they stayed.

Sakura found it necessary to buy some clothes for the Uchiha since the thought of letting the Uchiha traipse naked in their rooms did not suit well with Sakura.

She had seen enough of Itachi's person to quench the perverse side of her. It was futile to deny Uchiha Itachi's sexual prowess over her but admitting it would embolden dire consequence. While entertaining Itachi's licentious attention or even his carnal regard would bring fatalistic calamity.

Haruno Sakura has a mission to accomplish and she would not allow anyone to foil her plans. She has a reputation to uphold to and a secret to protect. Uchiha Itachi was just a cumbersome baggage that she has to bare before the Hokage's orders arrive. She devoutly prayed that it would not take long for the Hokage to respond. She really didn't want to spend more time within the Uchiha's company. The idea of spending another day with him was loathsome even to her. She could not endure the thought of following the Uchiha like a well-trained personal lapdog or suffering his perversion again.

She has more important matters that need her attention and wasting it on the Uchiha had placed a scowl on her face as she continued to follow him, trying to force the feel of his lips on hers from the very recess of her mind. It was insignificant and should never to be repeated.

Hinata was still securing the perimeter while Sakura hid in the role as a bodyguard towards the former denounced criminal, slowly regaining her composure. Once Sakura have regained total control over her body and calmed her thundering heart, she honed her senses to Kiba's and Hinata's position, having familiarized with her team mates chakra, Sakura could immediately trace their current location.

She could feel Hinata's chakra ahead of them while Kiba's was a block away from their location, approximately 45 meters from where they were standing. The perimeter was clear and Sakura took a fortified breath as she steered herself and Itachi towards the rendezvous point; in front of the convenience store.

Engross with her thoughts, Sakura barely had time to register as the Uchiha suddenly halted. She collided into his back, her head whipping upward in embarrassment for allowing her mind to wander, and anger when the Uchiha decided to ignore her.

She glared when Itachi still did not move.

"What are you looking at?" She snapped, anger boiling within her as she jerked her head towards the direction where Itachi was looking, but could only see Itachi's s broad shoulder as it blocked her view.

Bristling with anger, she stepped to the side to take a good look. Then her mind seems to have gone blank as she stared.

A small brown haired girl was looking up at Itachi with huge fearful eyes, glancing at the ball which was almost touching Itachi's feet.

Itachi was impassive as the girl started to fidget. Yet the girl, not even Sakura, dared take the ball from the expressionless man. Sakura was distracted at the sight of the child while a small vague memories flooded her mind that she had a hard time comprehending. The same images of a black haired boy muddled her mind and piquing her curiosity along with her suspicions. The boy's features were distinctly familiar, and at the first time that she had encountered the boy's face in her mind, she denied the identity of the boy. She knew too well that she and the Uchiha had never had some past connection. However, the memories still keep on resurfacing in her mind and especially the moments where in she was unconscious or asleep.

Memories of that black haired boy keep on infiltrating in her dreams and thoughts and evoking a myriad of emotions that befuddled her. Though she suspected that the Uchiha was behind all this but she has no proof, except the occasions where she had lost a part of her memories and had replaced them with new ones. The black haired, now she realized to be Itachi, became insistently relevant in her dreams, or in her half state of unconsciousness.

A part of her wanted to become in congenial bases with him, but the doubts in her heart hindered her from trusting the Uchiha. She did not let such pathetic memories blind her judgment. Uchiha Itachi was still an enigma; a dangerous enigma that she would try to unravel.

She closely watched as Itachi bent down and gave the ball back to the girl, who retreated, fear and wariness glittering in her amber orbs while Itachi patiently waited for her to take the ball, stoically eying her.

Sakura took matter in her own hands when she became impatient. She had enough of the delays and wanted to get this little outing over and done with. Then she would wash her hands off of Itachi as soon as the Hokage responds to their missive. Hopefully, it would be tomorrow.

She rudely snatched the ball from Itachi and forcefully shoved it back to the girl's surprised hands. The girl jerked back before scurrying away towards the playground where her friends were waiting for her.

She watched as the girl began rambling and gesticulating wildly towards her intent spectators of friends, her eyes were alight with fear as she continue to shot furtive and cautious glances in Sakura's and Itachi's direction.

Sakura glared, baring her teeth into a sneer, her dark mood had worsened. The children jumped in fright and they started to run, bumping against each other as they tried to escape from Sakura's temper.

They were gone within minutes, the playground was deserted and Sakura's temper simmered to a boiling point when the Uchiha remain silent and seemingly amused at her impatience.

Gritting her teeth, Sakura force the expletives that threatened to pour out from her mouth. She closed her eyes and tried to breath calmly; intensely aware of Itachi's silent regard.

The insufferable man really did enjoy ruffling her agitated feathers.

"What?" Sakura jeered spitefully as her emerald orbs met pair of amused onyx. "Do I look funny to you?"

Her question however, brought a wry smile from Itachi's face, his gaze lingering on the angry flushed on her cheeks as if the sight pleased him. That was all the answer that he had deigned to give, an impression of trifle loftiness in accordance to his silent amusement. Obviously, seeking and plundering for more entertainment from her show of bad temper.

Sakura was agitated by his disconcerting stare and whirled around while she restrained herself from throttling the Uchiha, her furious emerald eyes meeting Hinata's, who was still securing the area for any unsuspected enemies. She send a silent message through her eyes, frustration and anger evident from her countenance while Hinata send a sympathetic look in her direction, understanding the circumstance that Sakura had put herself into.

Conveying her grievances to her friend didn't exactly improve her predicament but it somehow lifted her spirit. Allowing Itachi the satisfaction of making her uncomfortable placated her stubborn streak. She was as determined to cure this farce as he was to make an entertainment out of her.

Her skepticism earlier when Itachi had proposed this outing was justified and well-grounded. She knew better than to go shopping with an Uchiha, even though said-man will have sufficient and decent clothes to wear after so-called shopping. If she was mistaken, the Uchiha wanted to take advantage of her new role more than his short explanation of stipulating a new set of wardrobe for his royal ass.

His arrogance knows no bounds. Not even her notorious, withering glare could daunt him from having his own way. But she had unwillingly forgone her erroneous reasoning in exchange for the image of his conceited body under layers of clothing.

It was mental extortion.

She preferred him fully clothed than wearing fewer clothes in her attendance. She won't tolerate any sexual harassment from him anymore. Three times (or was it five?) could do that to an unsullied girl like her.

She didn't want to repeat that erotically stimulating—errr I mean—perplexing experience again. Thrice was enough, thank you very much. She still has a single and unattached reputation to preserve and she was going to do everything in her power not to let her wholesome status be besmirched, not even if an attractive, self-assured and a dangerously sexy man could staunch her obstinacy.

She shook her head in preoccupation, mentally shrugging off her inner disturbance as she began to march away. Perhaps dismissing his presence would resolve her awkwardness for the situation.

But it seems the Uchiha want none of it and step besides her, leisurely matching his strides with hers until they were walking side by side, or rather, stamping side by side.

Itachi was greatly entertain by Sakura's absurd reaction, but she lengthened her steps to outrun him. He allowed her, lazily watching as she slinked towards a corner, and then paused, looking back at him.

"Will you hurry up?" She lashed out, her eyes chilly. "We don't have all day, your royal piece of cow dung,"

Itachi pretended he didn't hear the insult and continue to amble towards her at his own indolent pace, his demeanor indulging.

He heard her let go a frustrated sigh before she strode back towards him, meeting him midway and fixing her angry eyes at him.

"Just in case you haven't noticed yet," She jabbed a finger at his chest, hard enough that he could feel her fingernail pricking him. "I'm not allowing myself to be your own personal bodyguard,"

She pressed her face closer to his, hissing her contempt "And neither am I going be your personal sex toy nor your slave,"

She abruptly pulled away from him when she felt his attention had shifted back to her lips. She bristled but her voice didn't betray the quaver that she had felt when Itachi had blasted her with yet another one of his intense stare.

"If you continue to treat me from like either one," She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes before opening them again. "I warned you that I would not be as forgiving or as lenient as I was before,"

Itachi's only scrutinized her.

"If you ever—and I mean ever—show any advances towards me again," She held out her hand and curling it midway towards its destination. "Be sure to cover your manly parts…."

"Because I'll not hesitate to tear that manhood, which you so proudly flaunt, from you," Sakura cracked her fist to emphasize her threat while Itachi breeze passed her as if he hadn't heard anything.

"Hey!" Sakura called after him, extremely vexed.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" ignoring her, Itachi followed the path towards the convenience store while Sakura was reduced to scrambling after him.

She scowled visibly.

"Asshole," She muttered under her breath though good enough for Itachi to hear, but he acted as if he hadn't heard her at all. Sakura's scowl deepened, shooting daggers at his retreating back.

Once they had arrived on convenience store, she received Kiba's whine and Hinata's knowing-look without delay.

"What took you so long?" Hinata's look was drowned by Kiba's question and Sakura promptly directed the full blast of her withering glare at her impudent team mate.

The Inuzuka shrivel under the magnitude of her glower. Despite his slip earlier, Kiba was sure to recover from his errors and speedily retraced his steps to quake under his role.

Still in a formidable mood, and with her disposition scarcely had improved from the her short trek toward the convenience store, Sakura began rapping out orders towards her team mate, hardly even caring that it greatly disturb the sweet tempered Hyuuga, who cowered as her gaze cut through her like a newly-sharpen kunai.

"You!" Sakura blustered, stabbing a finger in his direction. The teen drew away from her as is he had been stabbed by a hot poker. "Go secure the perimeter!" Kiba disappeared in a flash with Akamaru not far behind.

Sakura turned to her other team mate, the Hyuuga started to fiddle with her fingers in apparent distress.

"And you!" Hinata jerked back as if hit by the same invisible poker as Kiba had, "Guard the entrance,"

The lavender eyed Hyuuga leap into her station while Sakura pivoted on her feet and started towards the entrance door, leaving the Uchiha no further choice but to follow her.

She could feel his penetrating gaze on her while she opened the door after checking if the inside was safe. The welcome bell tinkled as the door slides open, and upon entering the small store, the shop keeper was at her elbow in a flash, basking them with his warm, welcoming greetings.

"Good Afternoon, Sir," the wizened old man with big rimmed glasses hanging down his nose, said to Itachi, and then his beady eyes landed on her, a small twinkle appear in his eyes as he considered her with great interest.

"Ma'am." he added, nodding his courteously.

"How may I help you?" Sakura was puzzled by the amuse glitter that shined in the man's brown eyes and answered him without a second thought.

"I want to buy some clothes,"

"Clothes, eh?" The man asked, raising both his brows. "Then you're in the right place. I have the right 'decent' clothes to fit a young woman your age," He guided them further into his humble shop, gesturing towards the stalls at the right corner, where clothes were hang and covered with thin plastic. "Here you are," he sorted through the clothes, allowing them small glimpses of dull looking summer dresses and simple, drably attire like the worn by women in that small conservative town.

"Pretty dresses for a beautiful woman like you," the dresses hardly can be called as pretty or even nice, but Sakura dared not wipe the smile from the kind shopkeeper. Her words would be a great insult to him, and in exchange for the compliment that he had given over her simple features, she would do no justice by saying such insolent words to him. She wasn't raised that way.

However, she wasn't there to buy clothes for herself. She hadn't dragged her sorry ass up there just to use her money on herself. She was willing to press a coined from her pursed just to see the Uchiha appropriately and decently dressed.

With a cordial smile on her face, she said. "Actually, I'm not here to buy clothes for myself." She risk a sidelong glance at the man standing right beside her. "The clothes are for him," she indicated towards Itachi while the old man's eyes moved towards him, arranging his spectacles in his crooked nose as he closely surveyed Itachi.

"Ahhh," the man said, nodding his head. "This must be your husband?"

Sakura's mouth fell open and she gaped at the shopkeeper, who was still nodding at Itachi in a way that a father would approve of his son-in-law

"Handsome devil, aren't you?" the old man said, then without waiting for Itachi to respond, he hastily shifted his attention back to her while she look for her voice to deny the claim. "You must me be lucky to have caught his eye, eh Ma'am?"

Sakura turned pink at the man's assumption and almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand slide down at the curve of her spine.

"Not as lucky as I am to have her, Sir." Itachi answered, glancing down at her before looking back at the shopkeeper. Having acted as a silent spectator all this time, Itachi was willing to step into the rickety limelight. "She's all that I've ever wanted from a woman and more. You could say that I was lucky to have caught her eye,"

Sakura wanted to faint from what the nonsense that poured out from the Uchiha and the same time, she wanted pummel him with her fist for leading the old man to believe that they were married. And for the second time that day, as if he had guessed what was on her mind, Itachi smiled roguishly down at her.

"Fine man you have there, girl" the shopkeeper remarked, grinning at her. "No wonder you look happy with him,"

Sakura grimace in disagreement. A big understatement that one, and Sakura was about to denounced the man's assumption when the man continued. With Itachi looking on, Sakura's thoughts of murder turn to downright consternation as what the man said after that.

"I may to presume that you are here on your Honeymoon?" Itachi raised a queried brow at that while Sakura look absolutely scandalized at the thought.

The shopkeeper gave a crook smile as he explained, "My sister owns the establishment that you are staying."

A dawning comprehension came over Sakura and she brushed a palm over her heated face. The soft flushed dusting her cheeks nearly matching the color of her hair, and then started to darken as she suddenly realized why the man had assumed that Itachi and her were married couple. The people here in this town was conservative, and the woman who had seen her and Itachi in a compromising position must have instantly thought that they were newly married couple. It must be because they look like one when the woman and her son had barged into their room. Sakura thought wryly, mentally shaking her head.

There was no one in this town would think nothing less than what they had seen. They would hastily presume a man kissing a woman on the street to be married too. That's how people in that town were simply made. They live a normal life as a civilian, and there strict decorum that facilitated their norms, force Sakura to comply to the false married status that she was forced to accept.

If she told the man that she wasn't married to Itachi, it was man's turn to be scandalized. And she suspected, they would be banished out from town once the news spread like wild fire to the rest of the timid population. With a small town like that, the words would reach the others within minutes or even seconds if the gossipers could fly like bats.

Despite her clear aversion for her new false status, Sakura finally relented to the norm of that small, quite town.

"Yes, we're in our 'honeymoon'." Sakura sugarcoated the last word, a Cheshire smile plastered on her face which totally unnerved the shopkeeper while Itachi became silent all of a sudden.

The shopkeeper was hesitant as he asked, warily eying the glittering smile on Sakura's face. "But why did you bring you friends along with you?" he waved his hand towards Hinata who stood right outside the shop.

Sakura's smile turn feral, impatience etched all over her face as she responded. "They are here to give us there best wishes,"

The shopkeeper frowned in puzzlement. "If so, how come they're still here?"

Sakura's temper flared to a verge of explosion at the nosy old man. Forgetting his kindness earlier, she snapped at him.

"It's because we wanted them to stay," Sakura glared hard while the man shrank from her. "Now if you don't mind, I want clothes for my husband." her simple and commanding words enforce immediate action from the man. The man sidled away, with a man as old as him, maybe 60 at best, he moved with an agility that no man his age could master.

"That's the clothes you're looking for," He said uneasily, gesturing wildly towards the other stall where she could see men clothing were hanged. "You can fit your husband with that. There's the dressing room," He indicated towards the small, tight room where a gray curtain served as a cover. And at last, with a whirl and a flourish, he disappeared through the back door, where he hid from Sakura's glare.

Sakura was still glaring at the closed door when Itachi moved towards the stall and began sorting through the clothes. His back was turn to her while Sakura riveted her temper on him.

"You ungrateful bastard," Sakura frothed at the mouth as she strode towards him, thumbing a hand on his broad shoulder, the Uchiha hardly moved or flinch from her painful shove.

"What did you do that for?" She asked, and lowering her voice for fear of being overheard by the nosy shopkeeper, she hissed at him. "Why did you encourage him to believe that we're husband and wife?"

"If I didn't, what would you do if he thinks of you as a paid woman?" Itachi calmly responded, halting at a dark blue shirt and surveyed it for a scant second before resuming his search for better taste of clothes. "It is better to make him believe that were married or else we will be going against their moral code of conduct and propriety,"

Sakura sputtered, trying to find better means to express her rage at him. She knew that he was correct to think that the people here would never think less of them as nothing than married to each other, and to her little knowledge, irrevocably in love with one another. She nearly almost gagged at the thought of him and her goggling at each other with hearts on their eyes. That would be a day when hell freezes over.

"What about my friends?" Sakura inquired, trying to keep the rise from her voice as she step into Itachi's periphery, cutting off the sight of a white shirt with long sleeves from his view.

Itachi looked down at her and quirked a brow.

"What will they think once they heard about our sudden marriage state, hmpp?" She harrumphed, standing akimbo.

"Obviously, you tell them the truth." Itachi stated simply as he impassively appraised her, and then moving her to one side, he took the white shirt from the stall.

Temporarily diverted from her consternation, Sakura screwed her nose in distaste at the sight of the white shirt, and she fleeted her eyes to the blue shirt at the end of the stall, the same shirt that Itachi had dismiss without second thought. She reached for it, and instantly forgetting her dilemma earlier, she shoved the shirt into Itachi's hand and deposited the other one from him.

"There," Sakura said, placing back the white shirt into the stall and looked up at him. "Blue looks good on you than the white one," she added absentmindedly, imagining him wearing the blue shirt with a pair of pants to match. But the image she conjured was not that of him, but of a different dark haired, black eyed boy wearing a blue Uchiha shirt. Her mood plummeted down, her features turning bleak, scarcely noticing the piercing stare that Itachi pinned on her.

"I don't like blue," And as if being doused off by cold water, she started from her melancholy thoughts by the sound of Itachi's voice.

"What?" Sakura stared stupidly at him.

"I said I don't like blue," Itachi responded blandly, curiously eying her.

"But—but I thought," Sakura looked searchingly at him, confusion written in her emerald orbs. "I thought you have the same taste as—" she halted as she realized where her thoughts had meandered.

Inwardly, Itachi was curious though his face was expressionless, considering the woman standing in front of him with a stare.

She recovered immediately from her faux pas and tried to hide it with her following words. "I meant to say is that," she said, floundering for a better explanation. Itachi merely look impersonally at her, waiting.

"You're an Uchiha," Sakura said, and elaborated when Itachi remain aloof under her words. "You're supposed to like blue,"

Itachi was nonplussed at her statement and took the white shirt from the railings and pushed the blue shirt towards her hands.

"I have never likened myself to wearing blue, Sakura." The familiar way he said her name made her stiffen, her ire rising at the audacity of the man. "And I will never consider to wearing one," he look intensely at her, and Sakura's face started to heat up in both anger and something that she had gotten used to when she was around the Uchiha.

"Even if it was you who suggested it,"

She flushed in retrospect to the things she had said when she had handed the blue shirt to him._ "Blue looks good on you than the white one," _She turned crimson as she suddenly realized how intimate those few words had been.

"I meant that the blue suit you than the white shirt," Sakura explained as she tried to rectify her mistake. She didn't want to give him the false impression that 'she find him attractive in blue', but truth be told, Itachi would really look handsome in the blue shirt. But that would be her own, personal and private opinion of him. She didn't want him to think that she like him.

"The white shirt would look dreadful on you," Sakura rambled on while he turned his back to her and started filtering through a pair of pants, he found one, and Sakura did not give any protest as he choose the most ugly pair of pants that she had ever seen. Well, that was her own opinion while she hid her cringe of dismay behind a scowl when Itachi seemed to be turning a deaf ear on her.

"It doesn't mean that I like you," the words seemed to come out from her mouth in their own volition and Sakura tried to stop them, but it was too late, Itachi had heard her admission load and clear.

"I really don't like you at all," Itachi look at her then and since she had already captured his interest, Sakura understand that she couldn't back down from this one and tried to explain further. "In fact, I absolutely despise you."

She said it like they were discussing the weather, and Itachi look like any other person who would be listening to a boring tale about the mundane and the dreary occurrence of one's personal triviality. He remained nonchalant.

Itachi stared at her for a moment, and with a careless shrug he said. "You opinions of me will change in time," he moved to the other stall where he found what he had been itching to wear after the dog boy had lent him his pants. "I can even guarantee that you would be half in love with me by the end of this month,"

As if they're discussion had shifted to business, Sakura matched his nonchalant tone. "And I can guarantee that you will be castrated by the end of this week if you resume acting as if you own me,"

"Did I ever act as such?" Itachi asked in silent amusement, sorting through the boxers piled up on the stall and appropriately covered by plastic. "If I did, I apologize for having acted thusly,"

Sakura lifted a stubborn chin at him, her eyes unforgiving. "No, you're not forgiven."

"Such defiance," Itachi remarked, looking back at her and admiring the aura of bold bravado that she wore like a crown on her head. "You and I would suit admirably,"

Sakura was a shade deeper than she was earlier as she stared at the underwear Itachi had chosen, but the sight of it did not affect her greatly as his remark did.

_"They would suit?" _Sakura thought in half skepticism and half amusement, eying his magnificent frame and his handsome face. _"Such unlikely chance,"  
_

Beneath his dark and compelling attractive features was a man with a tainted soul, dark and sinful as the devil himself. To hell with his heroic act of protecting their Village when he had joined Akatsuki, she knew that he hadn't escape from the Organization unscathed, some of the diabolical attitude that the Akatsuki members have adapted must have also rubbed itself on him too.

They were compatible as the next a forbidden lovers to have graced in the Shinobi world. They were worlds apart and nothing could bridge that gap between them.

Sakura would relent herself to the notion of becoming his woman. That would never happen. She vowed to herself as Itachi stirred passed her toward the dressing room and carrying the clothes that he had chosen.

Sakura trailed after him like a devoted manservant that she wasn't.

Bristling for having to follow him again, she retorted. "We would never suit Uchiha," Itachi deigned a perfunctory glance at her before sauntering inside the dressing room.

"You and I are different. We would never suit because I would never let anything as improbable as that to happen," Sakura leaned beside the dressing room, her head turned sideways as Itachi hovered inside the dressing room, his hand on the curtain.

Itachi merely gave her a blank look. "That's your opinion, Sakura."

Sakura frowned.

"But mine stays the same. I still believe that you and I are made for each other," He said aloofly, and with that, Itachi slide the curtain shut while Sakura was left to ponder over Itachi's uncharacteristic behavior, or rather his penchant for using unusual choice of words.

He wasn't what she had expected from the criminal reports that she had read many years ago when she had become Tsunade's apprentice, and the Uchiha Itachi that she had read in his Anbu profile, lesser. It was stated there that the 13 year old teen had been coldly efficient and calculating when it comes to solo missions and patrolling. And other than that, his social life and his personal life was almost nonexistent.

It was like he had gone his life in a routine manner, seeing everyone and everything as necessary for him to survive.

In Anbu Ops personal profile, Uchiha Itachi was described as private person. However, the Uchiha Itachi that she had come to know now anything of that sort. He was more expressive in his manner of acting and speaking. He had revealed to her a very personal aversion for blue, had given her a chaste kiss in a public place and there was this matter about his strong desire to match them together. Overall, Itachi was a different person when one comes to know him better.

But Sakura couldn't shake this feeling that this Uchiha Itachi was nothing as he seems to be. It was like she knew lesser about him than what his personal profile had revealed to her or even the things that he made her want to believe. She had this intangible doubt that this Uchiha Itachi was nothing close to the Uchiha Itachi that she had encountered during Gaara's rescue mission or even what she had heard from Tsunade's deceased advisers about his secret mission.

She heard the rustle of clothing falling to the floor in distinct heaps, and she was suddenly distracted from her thoughts by the sound of Itachi undressing behind the closed curtain.

She had this perverse notion to take a peek at Itachi's muscled form, but Sakura mentally admonish herself for thinking as was unbecoming of her to think naughty thoughts about the Uchiha, very naughty as became aware that her face was inching closer to the curtain flap.

"Sakura?" startled by his voice. She jumped in guilt, as if having caught doing something inappropriate, which she would have done if Itachi hadn't caught her red handed.

"If you want to join me here, just say so." Her face flushed in embarrassment while she opened her mouth to deny the accusation.

"I wouldn't mind at all," his words were armed with double entendre while Sakura clamped her mouth shut as her denial became futile since Itachi already knew her intention. "I'll be glad to have your alluring company here with me,"

With amusement coloring his last words, Sakura was without qualms to fire a retort at him.

"Shut up!" She spat, crossing her arms together while she glowered at the wall a distance away from her.

A soft chuckle came from behind the gray curtain, and in a sign of temper, Sakura stamped towards a nearby stall and took what look like to be a one eyed looking mole rat, and chucked the ugly looking toy over the curtain. There was an answering thud as the toy hit something, though she couldn't be sure that she had made a direct hit. As tight and as small the dressing room was, Sakura highly doubt it if Itachi could avoid the toy.

She heard a soft rustle and look up as the ugly mole rat toy sailed over the curtain and came pelting towards her. She caught it; a triumphant smile formed over her lips as she stared at the toy. Then she looked up with the intention of telling the insufferable man that she had foiled his attempt at---

Sakura suddenly found herself staring at a pair of black boxer short. She hastily threw the disgusting piece of clothing from her face as if she was contaminated.

Stalking straight towards the dressing room, she asked indignantly. "You disgusting bastard, why did you threw that thing into my face?" She scrubbed her hand over her face, making a revolted sound as glared at the close flap.

"I don't like the color and the texture," Itachi replied blandly from behind the flap, hiding his inner mirth at her reaction. "I want you to get me another one."

Sakura's hand twitched to threw the curtain open and murder him. She refrain herself from acting over her murderous intent.

"Get it yourself!" She said dispassionately. "I still can't see why I would heed your orders. You're not my master and I'm not your slave."

Silence ensues after Sakura's declaration, while she waited for him to respond, impatience rolled from her in angry waves.

"I can't," he said, his voice almost--yes, almost bashful, though she could feel a smile lurking in his words as he said it.

Her brows rose at his answer and her temper flared. "I'm not going to let you--"

"I'm naked," his direct words drilled a hole through her mind like his Amaterasu had blasted a hole in that underground facility. Images of him posing in the mirror naked poured over her mind's eyes.

She was flabbergasted.

"You wouldn't want me to go out there and parade myself do you?" Momentarily distracted, she barely heard half of what he said but she recovered.

_"Yes, I want you to_." Inner Sakura said gleefully, a leer on her whitewashed face while Sakura blushed ferociously at her inner thoughts.

Sakura shook her head, and shunting inner Sakura in the far corners of her mind, she said "No, that would be indecent." her voice was prim and modest, though her thoughts were portraying the exact opposite, it was close to bordering on indecent and licentious.

"Now, can you please give me what I need?"

Sakura hesitated, realizing suddenly that Itachi was winning again. She sighed in resignation and finally giving in, she called up to him. "What color do you prefer?"

"This time I want you to choose for me," It seems that day, Itachi had never failed to paint her face in red or pink, as of now her face had turn yet another shade of crimson at Itachi's intimate suggestion.

Was he really seriously suggesting that she choose a pair of underwear for him?

"I will give you the incentive to choose whichever color you desire and I will wear it,"

Flustered beyond reason, she skittered away from the dressing room before Itachi could say another word that would shake her already crumbling composure.

While she was skimming and fumbling through the underwear, with a blushed fanning her cheeks, Itachi was leaning against the mirror with his arms crossed in front of him, half naked with only his pants to fit snugly around his male hips and an amused smirk curving his masculine lips as he waited for her to return. The white shirt and the gray pants were hanged on the small hook attached to the dressing room wall while he listened to her fussed outside. He had never dislike that underwear, he had only did it to elicit a desired reaction from the woman.

She was what he had expected for a virgin, easily flustered and prone to any righteous indignation when she became the recipient of his most baser intention. He now knew exactly what weapon to wield to sheathed that long, feline claws of hers.

She was pure and an untainted and she shines like a gem when she was standing right beside him, such untold treasure should be cultivated and desired, and when the right time comes, she would be plucked from her rightful place and revealed to the world. He was the one who would do all that. First, he would cultivate her until she grew beautiful for him to satisfy his desire, then he would take her and owned her for the world to see that she was his. His true purpose was to conquer her, and with that, he could conquer the world, that was how he was created, that was why he was sent to this mission.

He heard faint scuffle of footsteps from beyond the curtain as she neared the dressing room.

Pulling himself up, he walked towards the gray curtain flap, hearing her shy murmur, "Here," before handing him a pair of red boxer shorts with black squiggles on it.

Dry humor appeared in his dark eyes as he took the boxer, looking at it before saying through the curtain which separated them.

"Want to help me with this?" Itachi asked with the intention of inciting that explosive temper of hers, and his words didn't go unheeded.

She had come prepared with her acidic tongue.

"Budge off, Uchiha!" He heard her say and he mentally smiled. "There's no way I'm going to help you with your underwear!"

"Suit yourself," Itachi responded without preamble, turning around to look at the mirror. "I thought that you wouldn't want to miss the sight of me in my underwear,"

Itachi could almost see her bristling at the moment. "Aren't you still going to change your mind?" He inquired, really enjoying how her temper seems to sizzle under his provocative words, she would be an enjoyable entertainment for him in the future.

"For all I know," the growl came from behind him and he suspected that she was ready to throw herself at him, despite her assumption that he was naked in there. "You're going to jump me once I'm inside."

"How did you know that I'm going to jump you once you're here?" Itachi asked.

She did not respond as if she was still contemplating her next words. Itachi however, spoke again before she could produce an angry comeback.

"Haven't you ever thought that I could be a gentleman sometimes?" He asked, and then imperceptibly smirk when he heard her loud scoffed.

"You? A gentleman?" She asked as if she could hardly believe it. "Never!"

"Why don't you come here and see for yourself?" Itachi suggested, daring her.

There was absolute silence from the outside, the air didn't stir and her breathing seems to become nonexistent when Itachi extended his senses to find out if she was still there. She was there alright, but still and silent as a lamb, sensing the danger of a predator ready to make prey of her.

"Do I look stupid to you?" She burst abruptly that Itachi jerked his head in her direction. "Who, in there right mind would want to be alone with you in there?"

"You?" Itachi asked.

"Arrogant bastard!"

"I felt your hesitation earlier. Do you want to come here or not?" Itachi inquired, shedding the plastic from the white shirt and pulled it over his shoulder.

"Do you understand the word I just said?"

He heard her asked as he rolled up the long sleeves, showing off his forearm. "Yes,"

"Then what don't you understand from the word no?"

Itachi reached for the gray pants, gazing at it, he respond. "No,"

"What do you mean by no?" her voice rising as he could detect the note of frustration in her voice.

He was amused.

"You didn't say no earlier," Itachi explained, unbuckling his pants and stripping down to his birth suit. "I only heard you ramble about how you wouldn't want to be alone with me. Other than that, I haven't heard you mention the word no. I might have heard you said never. But you never said no."

"Stop twisting my words you ingrate!" She retaliated.

"I will, if you can use proper and decent words to express your---erm-- feelings towards me," He commented, pulling the red boxers on.

"Do I have to spell it for you then?"

"That would be good,"

"Y-O-U-space-A-R-E-space-A-N-space--A-S-S," that was a low call, Itachi nearly wanted to burst out laughing right there, but instead a reluctant grin was forced from his lips.

"I won't call myself that, Sakura." Itachi adjoined as he pulled the gray pants on. "I call myself righteously dignified and never compare myself to an animal."

"How about a bastard then? Can you call yourself that?" She quipped, her voice dripping with sarcasm and Itachi couldn't stop the twitch that acted on hiis mouth.

"That, Sakura," Itachi said dryly, staring at the mirror with his new clothes and his white shirt half way unbutton. "is far from true. I never doubted my lineage as what you should do before you call me that."

He heard her snort and vaguely pondered if he should just pull her inside and teach her a few manners about how a proper woman should act, and after considering it for a moment, he asked.

"Sakura?" looking behind him through the mirror and making out her shape through the curtain, she was hovering behind it like a bull ready to charge at him once he was out.

He could still recall how her lips had felt like when he kissed her and he suddenly felt this insatiable urge to feel her lips again.

"Come here," He softly ordered.

However, his order was rewarded by a "Go to hell!" before he heard her wander away from the dressing room, and cussing at him.

He was about to call her back when his head began to throbbed something fierce. His eyes screwed shot as he lean on the wall, his fingers massaging the area where he felt the throbbed. Then his mind went blank, and then he heard a voice reaching for him, and realized that his master was trying to contact him.

He immediately answered with a courteous "Yes, master?," before his master began informing him about the developments within the Organization, and then after the other matters had been tackled, Madara inquired about the progress of his mission. Itachi gave him a positive outlook of what had happen and his master was more the please of Itachi's progress.

The wheels had started to move and it would be matter of time before they could get there hands on what has his master had tried to get a hold unto. It would be within 3 months, or even less for Itachi to attain what his mater had asked him to do. He would make sure that nothing and no one who would dare ruin his plans.

If there is one, Itachi was sure to silence them.

* * *

"Madara, you sent for me," Sasuke said as he strolled into the dimly lightened room, his piercing sharingan fixed on the man sitting behind the desk.

"Yes," The man behind the desk responded, leaning forward while he twined his hands together in front of him. "Zetsu told me that you have been spending a lot of time in the Village of Stone,"

"You have made a successful allegiance with them, I presume?" He remarked approvingly.

"Yes," Sasuke came to stop in front of the desk, looking at the Madara straight in the eye. "They're ready to attack Konoha under your command,"

"Did I hear a mockery in your voice, Uchiha Sasuke?" He mused. "How did the army I gave you fare under your leadership?"

Sasuke gave him a blank stare.

"Perhaps they withered away under the weight of your stare?" Madara asked in slight mockery but he was serious as he inquired.

"If you called me here for the sole purpose of asking the welfare of my army," Sasuke replied calmly. "rest assured that they are well, "

"and I have gained complete command over them," Sasuke added as an afterthought.

Madara became impassive; his hands intertwine in front of him as he regarded the 17 year old boy while his face or his ruby eyes didn't betray his thoughts.

"This is not about the army that I have given to you, Sasuke." Madara explained, contemplating the strategies to break the news to him. "I called you here because I have important matters to discuss with you,"

Sasuke straightened, scrutinizing his mentor warily as he heard the voice that boded ill for his sensibilities, the same foreboding voice that Madara had used when he had revealed Itachi's true nature to him. He truly wanted to detain the inevitable, but he knew that he couldn't escape from this one important matter, especially when Madara seems to be determined to divulge it to him.

Sasuke waited for him to continue, the sense of foreboding wrapped around him like an invisible hand that seems to suffocate him.

"I should have told you this along time ago," Sasuke tensed, his eyes narrowing slightly when he heard the imperceptible paused coming from the older man.

"This is about your brother, Uchiha Itachi." At the mention of his deceased brother, Sasuke froze, his face turning stony.

"Sasuke,"

He readied himself for the inevitable, but what awaited him was far from what he had imagined. "He is alive,"

"Your brother is alive," Sasuke couldn't move from shock, at first he thought he had misheard him but for the second time around, he finally comprehended Madara's words.

He's brother was alive? But how?

All his questions would be answered by Madara, the only person who could go against the order of nature without repercussions. If Madara could make himself immortal, why couldn't he bring the dead back to life?

"How did you revive him?" Sasuke asked his eyes indecipherable but the fist that he pressed to his sides betrayed his emotion. He was visibly angry for being kept in the dark. How long have Madara lied to him? And for that matter, how many times had he lied to him?

"I didn't bring him back from dead as you have assumed, Sasuke." leaning back on his chair, Madara considered him. "He is already alive before the brother you knew died,"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked wholly confused.

"You will know once you meet with him," Madara answered enigmatically, his lips curling into a small secretive smile. "He will explain it to you,"

At best, Sasuke could simply pierce him with a glare.

"And when will I meet this 'brother of mine' as you have told me?" his question came out as a jeer when he became skeptical about the whole thing.

The smile on Madara's thin lips widen, matching the cynical curl on Sasuke's lips.

"I see that you don't believe me at all." Madara observed, pushing his chair back he said. "Very well then," he slowly stood up, and reaching for the orange mask perched on top of his desk he looked back at Sasuke.

"I will show you the truth," securing the mask on his face, Madara stepped out from behind his desk and towards Sasuke. He placed a hand on his shoulder, noticing how the boy went rigid, but he didn't withdraw his hand from him when he activated his sharingan.

"Come," Sasuke tensed, his hand going for the sword behind his back while Madara tightened the hand on his shoulder in warning.

"And I will reveal to you half of the secret," Sasuke looked at him suspiciously.

Madara stared right back.

"While the rest would be revealed to you in time,"

* * *

Sakura became restless, her emerald eyes venturing towards the dressing room where Itachi had disappeared to fit the clothes that he had chosen.

Hinata and Kiba were patrolling the perimeter and she was left to sort clothes with the big perv, who was mistakenly assumed to be her husband by the old shop keeper. Sakura didn't take the initiative to clarify his mistake instead she had let him assume that Itachi was her husband.

Sakura scowled as she remembered how Hinata and Kiba had inquired for their delay and her flustered state. The lavender eyed Hguuya had given her a knowing look while Kiba had remained oblivious just what Sakura had expected from the canine trainer. She didn't want Kiba to blabber about her intimate shortcomings with the Uchiha. With Hinata, she could trust her secret with her, but with Kiba? It was different matter; a huge difference.

Sakura started to pace, fiddling with the hem of her short medic skirt as her eyes kept on veering towards the direction of the small dressing room where Itachi seemed to take painful minutes to fit his clothes. It didn't matter that he had only carried a shirt, a pants and an underwear before he had entered the dressing room.

It was already 15 minutes passed since she had left him to wear that red boxer that she handed to him. And she had chosen well before giving it to him, she could still picture him wearing a pair of red boxer shorts while standing in front of the dressing room mirror, though her anger for him hadn't abated one bit, the nerve of the man to lure her inside the dressing room still simmered in the surface.

What does he take her for? A nitwit? He should have thought more of her. Underestimating her, would be his grave mistake that would have him end with a missing male organ.

The time dwindled into 20 minutes and she was beginning to think that the perv had escaped, despite the fact that she doubted the possible notion of him escaping through a dressing room. That would be far more hilarious to see a man like him blasting a hole through the mirror on the dressing room. If ever Itachi did escape, he would have done it along time ago when Hinata and the others had left him in the room earlier only to sneak in and molest her in her bathroom. If Itachi had wanted to escape, he would be long gone now while she and the others would be long dead.

But she didn't know why the Uchiha would accomplish such diabolical task since his name had been cleared from all the criminal records and his name carved in the cenotaph, since his supposed-to-be-dead body had never been recovered from the Akatasuki Organization. Now, she knew why his body was never found. The Uchiha was still alive and was only hibernating like some big bad wolf ready to pounce on any unsuspecting victim like her.

But what purpose would he have if he did escape? She really didn't know if he would go back to being a criminal and join the Akatsuki Organization since Konoha and the world had given him a new life where no criminals, or disclaim criminal of his caliber had been given the chance.

She stopped pacing when the time had lapsed into 25 minutes, her eyes jerking towards the dressing room. Eyes narrowing in determination, she looked around the small convenience store. The shopkeeper had slide through the backdoor earlier to do his own business while the stalls were naturally empty for a small unpopulated town like that, where they prefer to shop in the market than in that fancy convenience store.

After making sure that the area was clear, Sakura stalked towards the dressing room, her purposed strides eating the floor as she neared her destination. She wrenched the curtains to the side and what she saw there made her fumed.

She opened her mouth and burst out. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

A pair of onyx orbs met her flashing eyes through the mirror. Sakura pinned him with a fierce stare, waiting for him to answer her question.

The small dressing room was silent.

"What do you think am I doing? I'm dressing, of course,"

At his words, Sakura's eyes involuntarily jerked down his body, which to her relief was covered with clothes, except for the muscled stomach that peek from his gaping white shirt. It rippled as he breathes, and her eyes seem to be glued to the spot where she could almost feel his heated skin against her fingertips, almost feeling the muscles leaping against her exploring fingers when she touch him; alive and vibrant, and headily addicting. And yes, she could almost feel that too.

"Enjoying the sight are we?"

Sakura whipped her head up to stare at the amusement that glinted in his dark orbs. Sakura looked blankly at him for a moment before grumbling curses underneath her breath while a red flush dusted across her heated cheeks.

"Uchiha, come here!" She summoned, glowering when she strode towards the counter where the old man had suddenly appeared. "and I'll pay for your clothes."

Itachi followed a lazy pace behind her, idly eying her irritated features.

"How much does the clothes worth?" The shopkeeper used the high counter to hide from Sakura's ferocious glower.

"For your husband Ma'am, it's for free,"

Sakura continued to fume as she open her small purse and slammed the bills on the counter, the wood cracking underneath her fist. It was unacceptable to her that clothes were for free. The man clearly was frightened of her to relinquish the clothes to her without payment.

The man squawked as the bills spilled over the counter.

"Keep the change," the man gaped at her while his hands tried to save the money as they began to flutter towards the floor.

Itachi was still silently watching, and ignoring him, Sakura bounded towards the door, forcefully pulling the door open that the welcoming bell tingled loudly. Not waiting for Itachi to follow her, she stepped out and unto the warm afternoon sun that basked over that small town of Shuuri. When Sakura saw Hinata standing there, she instantly immediately rapt her orders. "Hinata, go ahead and secure the way."

With widen eyes, Hinata did as she was told, scrambling away and never glancing behind her as she activated her Byakugan.

"Kiba," Sakura turn to look, or rather glower at her other team mate, who had suddenly appeared with Akamaru hobbling behind him.

Kiba gulped as he stared at the angry glitter in his team Captain's eyes. "Go and inform Shino that were moving out from this town. We need to go back to Konoha as fast as we can. We can't remain in this town any longer. We have already put the townsfolk in danger as it is by being here. " She stared up at the azure sky, trying to calm herself down. Sadly, it didn't work.

Sighing heavily she said, "I want you to pack our bags and be prepared to camp out doors. We will have a long journey ahead of us."

"What about the Hokage's response?" Kiba dared inquired, looking at her. "Shino told us that it would be arriving by tomorrow afternoon,"

"Don't worry," Sakura assured him. "Shino told me that his bugs are trained to follow his scent. The bug messenger would be able to trace our location."

Kiba nodded his head, "Then I'll prepare the equipments needed for camping, anything else Captain?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Then, I'll see you later Sakura." Kiba said looking at her then towards the man standing just behind; Kiba bared his canine fangs at him, then climbing into Akamaru, he too disappeared out of sight.

Suddenly aware of being watched, Sakura turn to look at the man standing right behind her.

Now, that she noticed it. Sakura didn't missed how the Uchiha looked appealingly handsome in his new clothes, with his sleeves rolled up and the button of his white shirt open at the throat. Sakura couldn't deny that she was attracted to him.

How could she never when he looks extremely male in his gray pants and white shirt?

Except for the long hair, Sakura frowned disapprovingly as she run her eyes over his long locks that seemed to look even darker than in its usually shade of dark brown, in contrast to his blinding white shirt.

He needs some good trimming, she observed and Sakura was itching to do it herself.

"Do you have something you want, Captain?" Sakura curled her hands into fist as she heard the faint mockery in his tone of voice that was attached to her status.

"As a matter-of-fact, Yes," Sakura replied, regarding him with loathing in her eyes. "I don't care what you do. Just please don't get in my way."

Itachi raised a tentative brow at her.

"If things go wrong in our trip back to Konoha, I'll hold you responsible."

"Very forthright, aren't we?" He remarked, scrutinizing her with a small smile curving at the corners of his mouth.

"Yes, and for very good reasons." Sakura turned her back to him and started walking away. "Apparently, I always find myself in many distasteful situations when I'm around you."

"Could it be because of our polar opposites?" Itachi suggested, the cynical light in his eyes betrayed his thoughts as he took a step beside her.

Sakura didn't falter her quick strides.

"An absurd matter," She retorted, risking a glance at him beneath sooty lashes. "You have became my bad luck charm since I rescued you from that tank of yours,"

He caught her glance and mused. "At least, you admitted that you own a part of me."

Sakura halted, and stared at him through a frown that creased over her forehead. "That doesn't bother you?"

"Of what? Being claimed by someone?" Itachi also stopped and turn directly towards her.

"By you?" he added, looking down at her.

She nodded her head, in some weird way; she wanted to know if the thought of owning him would be a distasteful idea to the Uchiha.

"No," Itachi said apathetically.

"Why?" Sakura probed, becoming intrigued by him than she already was in her piece of mind. She was undeniably intrigued by his puzzling personality.

Itachi smiled at her, a mysterious smile that made her toes curl and her heart beat erratically against her chest.

He doesn't only intrigued her. He also had this power over to make her senses go into overdrive, and felt the flutter of excitement course through her veins as he reached out and slide a finger down the bridge of her nose. Tweaking it like an older brother would do to his sister, though he actually wasn't acting all that brotherly as he said in a voice deep and dark for her to fathom.

"It's because it will be inevitable." He murmured to her, gently cupping her chin as he held her gaze captive. "I can't escape from what is to come, what has been prepared for me and as do you."

Sakura slowly took his hand off her face and firmly pushed it back to his side.

"I don't know what you're talking about," She said seriously.

Itachi smiled enigmatically and Sakura nearly wanted to run from that smile that brought chills of anticipation running up and down her spine.

"You will know in time,"

That was all he said before turning, and started to walk away from her while Sakura could only stare after him.

His words keep on repeating on her mind, and she shivered as she felt the foreboding clouds hovered above her like an ominous entity that doused even her foul mood.

_"You will know in time," _She mentally repeated as she followed the man she knew for a short while to be Uchiha Itachi.

The man supposedly dead.

**To be continued….**

**------------------------------**

This is the longest chapter that I have ever written. So I hope you enjoyed it, I written two failure chapters to this one since I perceived that the juicy part really didn't fit well with the entire chapter. So I would have to preserve the juicy parts for later.

If you want to read the juicy part, then please proceed to my deviant account where I always place my failed chapters and all my failings.

Also pardon me for making Itachi too OOC, you will know in the latter chapters why he is acting that way. I have already written small hints regarding Itachi's revival, and though it's barely discernible, you have to peer closely to understand and make your own judgment and theories.

Since chapter is really long, expect a rather shorter one for the next chapter, which would be out once I have updated the rest of my stories.

And since this had been a long dragging chapter, I hope that you didn't get bored along the way. If so, I'm sorry for making this chapter rather dull to you.

But if you have enjoyed reading it, I would be honored and grateful if you could leave me a review. Tell me what you think and I'll be very open to any critical comments or any comments at all.

Though you must have gotten tired of reading this note, I still find it the necessity to write it down.

So here it goes.

Please! Please! I implore you to please a review!


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